Japan Donates More Than 1 Million AstraZeneca Jabs to Taiwan

TOKYO - Tokyo is donating more than 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines to Taiwan, Japan's foreign minister announced Friday, as Taipei struggles to secure jabs, accusing China of interference.

The move is likely to stir controversy with Beijing, which views democratic and self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory and works to keep the island diplomatically isolated. "We have received requests from various countries and areas for the provision of vaccines," Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters in Tokyo. "At this point, we have finished the arrangement for the request from Taiwan. And we will deliver free of charge 1.24 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines that have been produced in Japan," he added.