This Week in Taiwan 0718-0724
July 19: It was reported that 15 people violated epidemic prevention regulations and gathered to dine at a luxury resort in Pingtung. The group included Executive Director Chen Cheng-wen of the Executive Yuan's Southern Taiwan Joint Services Center. For this, Chen on July 18 tendered his resignation, which was approved. On July 19, the Health Bureau of the Pingtung County Government imposed a fine of NT$100,000 (about US$3,570) against each of the 15 people who dined unlawfully.
July 19: The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced that the Food and Drug Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), completed an expert review meeting and approved the emergency use authorization (EUA) application for Medigen vaccines. The government will allow domestic Medigen vaccines to be manufactured, and small quantities will become available as soon as the middle of August.
Taiwan's Medigen vaccine is the world's first coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine officially approved by immuno-bridging, before completing third-phase clinical trials.
Chairman Johnny Chiang of the Kuomintang (KMT) went to the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office to bring claims against Minister Chen and the MOHW for profiteering. According to Chiang, the procurement of up to NT$4 billion (about US$142 million) of Medigen vaccines fail to meet international standards, and he hopes that the judiciary will undertake an investigation.
July 20: Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu announced that after careful consultation with the government of Lithuania, Taiwan will set up a Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania, in the capital city of Vilnius. This is the first time since the representative office in Slovakia in 2003, or 18 years, that Taiwan is establishing another representative office in Europe. It is also Taiwan's first representative office which uses the name of "Taiwan" in a country that has diplomatic ties with mainland China.
July 21: Huang Shu-kuang, who stepped down as chief of staff of the Armed Forces on July 1, accepted an exclusive interview with United Daily News and revealed many behind-the-scenes observations of promoting domestic submarine production. He revealed that the biggest obstacle behind building the national submarine industry is not only the international political pressure imposed by mainland China but more so the hindrance of people from within Taiwan. In order to promote domestic submarine production, Huang said that he did not hesitate to block the way of people and money and insisted that submarines be designed and produced by Taiwan.
July 21: The Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation announced that it has concluded a contract with China's Fosun Pharma procuring 5 million doses of BioNTech vaccines, all of which the charity organization will donate to the government. In a Facebook post, President Tsai Ing-wen again thanked the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Hon Hai Precision Industry (Foxconn) and Yongling Foundation, as well as Tzu Chi for their joint efforts. The 15 million doses of BioNTech vaccines will be authorized by the Centers for Disease Control, Ministry of Health and Welfare, for emergency import, and minors from age 12 to 18 will be included as vaccination subjects.
July 22: Recently, China's Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province, has experienced heavy rain and flooding. On July 21, Spokesman Chang Chun-han of the Office of the President relayed President Tsai's condolences. According to Chang, President Tsai expressed condolences to the people who lost their lives as well as their families and hoped that the affected areas would soon return to normal life.
Spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, State Council, responded that the mainland is grateful to all relevant parties in Taiwan who expressed their concern and condolences to the disaster-stricken areas, including Taiwanese businesses which have donated money and materials.
Foxconn, a Taiwanese business which manufactures Apple smartphones and has three plants in Zhengzhou employing about 350,000, announced a donation of 100 million yuan (about US15.4 million) to help the disaster victims. About half of the world's iPhones are produced in Zhengzhou.
July 22: The MOHW would like to remove the identifiers related to EUA review records of Medigen vaccines, stirring serious controversy. Lee Ping-ing, the convener of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), said in an online news interview that many committee members participated or presided over the clinical trials of Medigen and other domestic vaccines.
Deputy Director-General Huang Tzu-che of the KMT's Culture and Communications Committee, described Lee as opening a Pandora's box and questioned how many of the 17 ACIP members also hosted clinical trials for domestic vaccines or are co-contributors to the vaccine manufacturers? The MOHW should give an explanation for the situation involving committee members acting as both player and referee.
July 23: Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung, who heads the CECC, announced that the epidemic alert will be lowered from level 3 to level 2 from July 27 until August 9. Up to 50 people will be allowed indoors, 100 outdoors. Wedding banquets and public funerals are permitted, but karaoke and swimming pools shall remain suspended.