Eight EU member countries are to receive 1.3 million masks from Taiwan as part of its second batch of donations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, again urging the WHO to fully include the nation in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The masks are part of the nation’s humanitarian donation of 6 million masks announced on Thursday last week, with the rest going to the hardest-hit US states, countries covered by the government’s New Southbound Policy and those friendly to Taiwan.
While the ministry did not name the European recipients last week, Department of European Affairs Deputy Director-General Chen Yung-shao (陳詠韶) yesterday told a news briefing in Taipei that Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Slovakia, Slovenia and “Baltic Sea countries” — Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — are to receive 1.3 million masks in total.
Photo: Screen grab from the Facebook page of the Office of the Texas Secretary of State
The ministry hopes to deliver the masks to the countries as soon as possible, as people are dying from the disease every day, but it is uncertain when they will arrive, as flights have been reduced and there are restrictions to overland transportation in the continent, she said.
Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, the Holy See, Switzerland and the UK were among the recipients of a first round of mask donations announced on April 1.
“Delivery gratefully received! The surgical masks donated by Taiwan have now arrived in the UK where they will be distributed around our National Health Service. Thank you Taiwan!” the British Office Taipei wrote on Facebook yesterday.
The office of Texas Secretary of State Ruth Ruggero Hughs yesterday also wrote on Facebook that the state has received 100,000 masks from Taiwan, while presenting a certificate to Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston Director-General Peter Chen (陳家彥) thanking Taiwan for its support.
Meanwhile, Marion Smith, executive director of the US-based Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, on Monday wrote on Twitter that “the Chinese Communist Party lied to the world about #COVID19 and is using the World Health Organization as an instrument of propaganda.”
Asked about Smith’s remarks, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) yesterday said the ministry had noticed his post and that the WHO should include all international stakeholders to ensure that information can be shared instantly and completely.
Taiwanese’s right to health is a humanitarian and human rights issue, Ou said, urging the WHO to discard political considerations and fully include Taiwan in its meetings and mechanisms.
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