Taiwan, feuding with China, gets vaccines from Japan

Taipei: A flight carrying 1.24 million doses of AstraZeneca Coronavirus vaccine from Japan touched down in Taiwan on Friday to help the vaccine-starved island fight its largest outbreak since the pandemic began.

The donation underscores how geopolitics has come to impact the global vaccine rollout, as countries scramble to secure enough doses for their populations. Taiwan, a self-governing island struggling to get enough doses, has blamed China for interfering in a potential deal for another vaccine.

Now it is more than doubling its vaccine supply thanks to Japan, which is trying to play a greater role in global vaccination distribution and accelerate its own slow rollout ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in July.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters on Friday that Japan was responding to a Taiwanese request, and that the donation reflects Japan's important partnership and friendship with Taiwan.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen echoed those comments, saying after the Japan Airlines flight landed that "we are witnessing once again the true friendship between Taiwan and Japan, built upon shared values and mutual help.