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 The news drew a swift rebuke from China, where Foreign Ministry
spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing that Taiwan was
using the pandemic for "political manipulation". Beijing routinely
condemns any high-level contacts between Washington and the island
which China claims.
Having for months been held up as an example of how to stop the
virus in its tracks, Taiwan has over the past two weeks reported a
spiralling number of infections in the community, with some 1,800
cases.
Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said the situation remained at its
peak but there were no "sudden situations" that had arisen, with
authorities able to track the sources of most infections.
Taiwan's battle against the virus has been complicated by a lack of
vaccines, with only about 700,000 arriving to date, including
410,000 this week, all AstraZeneca Plc shots.
Chen said he had spoken with Health and Human Services (HHS)
Secretary Xavier Becerra on a video conference call about medical
cooperation, the highest level contact between the two governments
since Biden was inaugurated in January.
"More importantly, we brought up that Taiwan's pandemic is
increasing, and at this point we have an urgent need for vaccines,
and hope he can support Taiwan when it comes to the vaccines the
United States are going to release," Chen said.
In response, Chen said Becerra said Taiwan's needs will be
considered and he will take the matter to the president.
A statement from the HHS' Office of Global Affairs on Twitter said
the U.S. supports Taiwan's ability to access vaccines, its
contributions to health security, and its return to observership at
the World Health Organization's decision-making body the World
Health Assemble, which China has blocked.
[to top of second column] |
 Biden said this week he will
send at least 20 million more COVID-19 vaccine
doses abroad by the end of June, marking the
first time the United States is sharing vaccines
authorised for domestic use.
The United States, like most countries, has no
formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
China reacted with fury when Alex Azar, the
Trump administration's health secretary, came to
Taipei in August, sending fighter jets near the
island. Taiwan's current spike
in domestic COVID-19 infections has not rapidly accelerated, with
the island reporting 312 new cases on Friday, a slight rise from the
286 reported on Thursday.
Minister Chen said this weekend would be critical in bringing the
pandemic under control and he called on people to stay at home as
much as possible.
"If the flow of people can be reduced to a minimum during these two
days, the chain of transmission will be gradually cut off, which
will be very useful," he said.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee; Additional reporting by
David Kirton in Beijing; Editing by Robert Birsel, Christian
Schmollinger and Kim Coghill)
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