Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) yesterday said that the US’ and Japan’s donations of COVID-19 vaccines were not due to the efforts of President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration.
Japan has donated 1.24 million AstraZeneca doses and the US has donated 2.5 million Moderna doses to Taiwan.
While Taiwanese are grateful, officials in the Tsai administration have “the least reason to boast” about the donations, Chiang said.
Photo: CNA
“It is because of the Tsai administration’s policy mistakes that other friendly nations saw the breach in Taiwan’s [COVID-19] situation and sent the vaccines quickly,” he said.
The loss of more than 500 lives led to the donations, he said, referring to the number of Taiwanese who have died from the disease.
The Tsai administration should not consider the donations its “political achievement,” he added.
So far, no official from the administration has taken responsibility for the deaths and stepped down, he said.
He also accused the administration of using the donations for “propaganda” at home and abroad.
“These vaccines came not because of the efforts of the Tsai administration, but because friendly nations heard the calls of Taiwanese,” he said.
On the issue of domestically developed COVID-19 vaccines, Chiang said the government should not treat people like “guinea pigs.”
People would only support the vaccines if they have been internationally approved, he said.
Separately yesterday, the KMT in a statement thanked the Lithuanian government for its announcement of a donation of 20,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses to Taiwan, saying it “embodies the friendly reciprocity between Taiwan and Lithuania.”
“We’ll always remember your nation’s generosity during these trying times,” Chiang wrote on Twitter.
However, the amount of vaccines Taiwan has acquired is still far from the amount needed to achieve herd immunity, the KMT said.
“Besides merely relying on international donations, the KMT also hopes that the Tsai administration will work harder to procure vaccines and help Taiwan leave the pandemic behind as quickly as possible,” it said.
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