{"id":118032,"date":"2021-07-12T08:49:16","date_gmt":"2021-07-12T08:49:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=118032"},"modified":"2021-07-12T08:49:16","modified_gmt":"2021-07-12T08:49:16","slug":"politics-health-collided-in-taiwans-tortured-biontech-vaccine-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/politics-health-collided-in-taiwans-tortured-biontech-vaccine-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"Politics, health collided in Taiwan's tortured BioNTech vaccine talks"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAIPEI (Reuters) – As talks for Taiwan to access BioNTech SE\u2019s COVID-19 vaccine via two major Taiwanese companies reached a head last week, the German firm\u2019s Chinese sales agent put forward a template contract seeking access to Taiwanese medical records.<\/p>

FILE PHOTO: Test tubes are seen in front of a displayed Biontech logo in this illustration taken, May 21, 2021. REUTERS\/Dado Ruvic\/Illustration<\/figcaption>

The clause sparked alarm, as such a requirement would be anathema for Taiwan\u2019s government, long wary of Beijing\u2019s attempts at influence over the democratic island, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other side did propose such a contract template, which made negotiators in Taiwan and the Taiwan government feel puzzled and troubled, but after talks, the other side stopped insisting and adjusted it in a short time,\u201d the source said.<\/p>\n

Reuters could not determine why Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co Ltd sent the template, and the company did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

But the incident highlights how politics became entangled with a public health issue, laying bare wider disagreements between the governments of China and Taiwan.<\/p>\n

The BioNTech issue has challenged China\u2019s efforts to project a benign global image through vaccine diplomacy, especially after Taiwan\u2019s direct deal with BioNTech collapsed in January.<\/p>\n

Shortly after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen accused China in late May of blocking her government\u2019s deal with BioNTech, Japan and the United States announced they would donate millions of vaccines to the island.<\/p>\n

Germany also said it had been helping in Taiwan\u2019s talks with BioNTech.<\/p>\n

CONTENTIOUS CONTRACT<\/h2>\n

Fosun\u2019s contract template, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, stipulated that it or its \u201cauthorised representatives\u201d should have the right to audit the vaccination process, including checking facilities and reviewing documentation.<\/p>\n

It also granted Fosun the right to collect data and interview vaccine recipients, something more akin to a clinical trial than a mass vaccination scheme.<\/p>\n

Two other sources briefed on the talks said that personal information was never going to be sent to China, and that the contract was only a template based on a deal signed with Chinese-run Hong Kong. \u201cIt was just that – a template\u201d and a starting point for negotiations, one of the sources said. On Sunday, Fosun said an agreement had been signed to provide the vaccines to two Taiwanese tech firms, Foxconn and TSMC. Taiwan\u2019s government allowed them last month to negotiate on its behalf, after public pressure about the slow pace of vaccines arriving.<\/p>\n

TSMC said the template was not the contract they signed, and declined to comment further.<\/p>\n

A representative for Foxconn\u2019s billionaire founder Terry Gou, who led a high-profile campaign to buy the vaccines and donate them to Taiwan\u2019s government, rejected the idea that the template was a problem, or that detailed data would have been sent to China.<\/p>\n

Other data, such as reporting on patients who have serious reactions to vaccine shots, will be closely protected, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe follow-up information exchange shall comply with Taiwan regulations, protect privacy, and be used for medical purposes,\u201d Amanda Liu told Reuters.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s Taiwan Affairs Office referred Reuters to a faxed statement on June 23 in which it denied seeking to block Taiwan from getting vaccines from overseas.<\/p>\n

It said Taiwan\u2019s government \u201con the one hand refuses mainland vaccines and on the other blames it for the lack of vaccines on the island\u201d.<\/p>\n

BioNTech did not respond to questions about the template contract. Taiwan\u2019s Presidential Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s government had said repeatedly that if Taiwan wanted the BioNTech vaccine it had to do it through Fosun.<\/p>\n

Chinese state media has also relentlessly focused on how bad the pandemic was in Taiwan, though even the latest outbreak was relatively small and is now well under control.<\/p>\n

The drama has fascinated Taiwan\u2019s public and led news coverage for weeks, even as other vaccines directly purchased by the government from AstraZeneca and Moderna arrive.<\/p>\n

One Taiwan-based official familiar with the vaccine talks said Taiwan arguably did not need vaccine deliveries as urgently as countries such as Indonesia and Thailand, where the virus is spreading fast.<\/p>\n

Moreover, he said, Taiwan\u2019s accusations that China earlier obstructed the BioNTech shots worked in Taipei\u2019s favour because it prompted Washington and Tokyo into action.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was always a political not a health issue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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