Taiwan says China makes use of COVID-19 vaccines to press Paraguay to interrupt ties

Taiwan accused China on Wednesday of utilizing a proposal of COVID-19 vaccines to lure Paraguay, considered one of simply 15 international locations that formally recognise the self-governed island, to interrupt off diplomatic relations.
China, which has been exporting thousands and thousands of doses COVID-19 vaccines primarily to creating international locations world wide, has repeatedly denied that it makes use of them to achieve diplomatic benefit.
Taiwan mentioned final month it was serving to Paraguay, its sole ally in South America, to purchase COVID-19 vaccines after protests there over the federal government’s dealing with of the well being disaster.
Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu mentioned on Wednesday China had dangled vaccines as a lure to the Paraguay authorities.
“The Chinese government were very active in saying to the public that if the Paraguay government is willing to sever ties with Taiwan, they will be able to get quite a few million vaccines from China,” Wu mentioned.

“It’s also generated a lot of pressure on us to find the necessary support for the Paraguay government,” he added.”In the previous few weeks, we’ve got been talking to like-minded international locations, together with Japan, the United States, India, and many others., and India happily has been in a position to present some COVAXIN vaccines to Paraguay,” Wu mentioned, referring to a shot developed by India’s Bharat Biotech and a state analysis institute.
India says it shipped 100,000 COVAXIN doses to Paraguay on March 26 as a present from the Indian authorities.The United States, India, Japan and Australia are working to counter China with a billion-dose vaccine pact.