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A vaccination centre in Taiwan, which is struggling with a vaccine shortage. Photo: Reuters

Former Taiwan KMT leader plans to get Covid-19 shot on mainland China

  • Hung Hsiu-chu says she will get vaccinated during her visit for next month’s cross-strait forum in Hangzhou
  • In a Facebook post, Hung says she has confidence in the mainland vaccine and hopes Taiwan’s outbreak can be controlled soon
A former head of Taiwan’s main opposition Kuomintang party plans to get vaccinated against Covid-19 on the Chinese mainland next month when she attends a cross-strait forum in the eastern city of Hangzhou.
Hung Hsiu-chu has previously called for vaccines made on the mainland to be available in Taiwan, which is experiencing a vaccine shortage amid an outbreak that saw 60 new infections and three deaths on Monday. Taipei has previously rejected an offer from Beijing to send vaccines and pandemic specialists to the self-ruled island.

“Certainly I will seize the opportunity to take the vaccine recognised by the World Health Organization during my stay in mainland China. I have confidence in the efficacy of the mainland vaccine, and I hope the recent outbreak in Taiwan can be effectively controlled soonest,” she said in a Facebook post on Monday.

Hung, who headed to Shanghai last week, was in her fifth day of quarantine in Hangzhou on Monday. She will attend the 4th Cross-Strait Youth Development Forum set to be held in late July.

“I feel bad seeing endless disputes in Taiwan over the vaccine issue. If the government had really prepared well in advance for the purchase of vaccines as it had said previously, there would never have been a vaccine shortage problem in Taiwan,” she said in the post.

Hung accused President Tsai Ing-wen’s government of refusing Beijing’s donation offer for political reasons, resulting in vaccine shortages and a spate of issues, including a high case fatality rate and claims that some people were queue-jumping.

She said disputes over “so-called vaccine privilege” and choices of vaccines would also have been avoided, adding it was the responsibility of the island’s government to have its people vaccinated as soon as possible and the basic right of the people to take the shots.

Taiwan is prioritising medical and frontline workers, senior government officials, people aged over 75, police, and military personnel. But there has been harsh public criticism of people using their connections to jump the queue.

Beijing offers Covid-19 vaccines, expertise to epidemic-hit Taiwan

Last week, a hospital was fined NT$300,000 (US$10,700) for giving shots to people who were not in the priority groups, according to Taipei deputy mayor Huang Shan-shan.

Taiwan is struggling to secure enough vaccine doses to inoculate its population. It has signed deals for 10 million doses from AstraZeneca, 5 million from Moderna and 4.7 million via the WHO-supported Covax Facility. But it has so far received a little more than one million doses.

Japan and the United States recently donated 1.24 million doses from AstraZeneca and 2.5 million shots from Moderna respectively, but the island remains far short of enough vaccine for its 23.5 million population where so far 8 per cent have been inoculated.

Hung will be in Hangzhou for about a month as she needs to complete her 14-day quarantine as well as seven days of self-health management, according to her office.

01:34

US sends 2.5 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Taiwan

US sends 2.5 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Taiwan

Asked whether she would attend the Communist Party’s centenary celebration activities during her stay on the mainland, an office spokesman said she would only attend the Hangzhou forum, which has been co-organised by her Chinese Cyan Geese Peace Education Foundation since 2018.

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, which charts the island’s policy towards the mainland, has warned former government officials against taking part in the centenary activities. It has also asked the locals not to attend mainland events which involve sovereignty and “one country, two systems”, the model promoted by Beijing for future unification between Taiwan and the mainland.

On Monday, a KMT source said the party had no plans to send anyone to the mainland for the centenary celebrations.

According to local news media reports, some 100 mainland-based Taiwanese businesspeople and entertainers will attend the centenary event, which reportedly requires all taking part to have received two Covid-19 shots and completed a three-day quarantine.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Ex-head of KMT plans to get a jab on mainlandFormer KMT head plans jab on mainland
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