Surveys conducted by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for internal reference have shown that most Taiwanese would refuse to take a vaccine made in China, a party source said yesterday.
A survey by the DPP last week showed that 86 percent of respondents would refuse a Chinese vaccine, the source said, adding that among them, 66 percent identified as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supporters.
A DPP survey conducted in February showed that 60 percent of respondents were unwilling to take a Chinese vaccine, while 30 percent were willing to.
China has attempted to use vaccines to further its “united front” efforts, with Chinese state-run media recently reporting that Pfizer-BioNTech’s Chinese partner, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group (上海復星醫藥集團), has obtained the right to market and distribute the BNT162b2 vaccine in Taiwan, China, Macau and Hong Kong, the source said.
However, Hong Kong on March 24 halted use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine distributed by Fosun after the company told the Hong Kong government that one batch of the vaccine had defective packaging.
Fosun’s supply of the vaccine is also reportedly set to expire at the end of next month.
DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) on Sunday criticized China for using the sale of vaccines as a “united front” tactic.
“China ceaselessly pressures Taiwan, but now it wants to appear benevolent — just as Taiwan is facing a worsening pandemic — by selling Taiwan vaccines with defective packaging that will expire soon,” he said.
Separately, DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) yesterday criticized the KMT and the China Unification Promotion Party for exacerbating attempts by China to sow disorder in Taiwan by calling for imports of Chinese vaccines.
The two parties’ actions would hurt the government’s COVID-19 response measures, she said.
“We stand by efforts to protect the nation. I hope that some people making trouble do not cause the Central Epidemic Command Center to show even the slightest lenience,” she said.
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