TAIPEI: Taiwan is mobilising its diplomatic corps to hunt for speedier delivery of COVID-19 vaccines - a quest that has become more urgent since a sudden rise in domestic cases on an island that has vaccinated less than 1 per cent of its population.
Taiwan has reported more than 700 new domestic infections during the past week, leading to new curbs in the capital, Taipei, and shocking a population that had become accustomed to life carrying on almost normally with the pandemic well under control.
Taiwan, a major semiconductor manufacturing hub, has only received about 300,000 shots so far for its more than 23 million people, all AstraZeneca vaccines, and those are rapidly running out.
In comments published on Tuesday by Taiwan's official Central News Agency, Taipei's top official in Washington said she was in talks with the United States for a share of the COVID-19 vaccine doses President Joe Biden plans to send abroad.
"We are in negotiations and striving for it," said Hsiao Bi-khim, the de facto Taiwanese ambassador to the United States.
She said that although vaccine purchases were the remit of Taiwan's health ministry, her office's role was to talk to the United States about speeding up those requests.
Biden said the United States would send at least 20 million more vaccine doses abroad by the end of June.
A source briefed on the situation told Reuters the US government had already been helping Taiwan coordinate with manufacturers to speed up deliveries.
The United States, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic relations with Chinese-claimed Taiwan, but is its most important international backer.
Taiwan has ordered 20 million doses, mostly from AstraZeneca but also from Moderna, though global shortages have curtailed supplies.
Taiwan has said it also expected to get more than 1 million AstraZeneca shots via the COVAX vaccine-sharing programme for lower-income countries.
A second source familiar with the matter said Taiwan's diplomats in Germany had been involved in talks with BioNTech
Taiwan complained in February the firm had pulled out of a deal to sell it 5 million doses at the last minute, possibly because of Chinese pressure. BioNTech later said it did plan to provide COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan.
BioNTech declined to comment on the status of the talks.
Taiwan Foreign Ministry Spokeswomen Joanne Ou also declined to comment on details of getting vaccines.
"We are making great efforts and trying through all means to get the qualified vaccines for our people and residents," she said.
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden and aides worked behind the scenes on Monday (May 17) pressing for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas amid what one source said was frustration over Israel's bombing of a Gaza building that housed some news organisations.
Biden is facing growing pressure from lawmakers in his own Democratic Party to play a more vocal role, but United States officials say he and his team have opted for a quieter effort, talking with Israeli officials and US allies in the Arab world.
"Our calculation at this point is that having those conversations behind the scenes ... is the most constructive approach we can take," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.
Biden spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, their third conversation since the violence erupted.
The White House said Biden "encouraged Israel to make every effort to ensure the protection of innocent civilians" and that the two leaders "discussed progress in Israel's military operations against Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza".
"The president expressed his support for a ceasefire and discussed US engagement with Egypt and other partners towards that end," a White House statement said.
Supporters of the Biden administration demanded quicker action.
"We're really frustrated that the administration is not moving with more urgency," said Logan Bayroff, spokesman for J Street, a liberal pro-Israel lobbying group.
Twenty-eight senators - more than half of the Democratic caucus - issued a statement on Sunday calling for an immediate ceasefire "to prevent any further loss of civilian life and to prevent further escalation of conflict".
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Monday he also wanted to see a ceasefire reached quickly.
Relatives react to the death of a man who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, May 17, 2021. (Photo: AP/Khalil Hamra)
The Biden administration has increasingly relied on Egypt because of its influence with Hamas, whose rocket barrages into Israeli cities have prompted a fierce response from Israel and led to the biggest outbreak in hostilities since 2014.
The administration would like to get on a glide path to de-escalation in coming days, leading to what a source familiar with the situation called a humanitarian pause in the violence to let relief assistance be delivered to Gaza and build a sustainable calm.
The United States was believed to be preparing significant initiatives on Gaza humanitarian reconstruction, the source said.
"IMPERATIVE TO RESTORE CALM"
Biden has strongly defended Israel's right to defend itself because of the repeated rocket barrages from Hamas, which the US views as a terrorist organisation.
But the administration did not support Israel's destruction of a Gaza high-rise that housed the Associated Press and Al Jazeera offices.
The Biden administration viewed the strike on the building as a major strategic mistake, particularly because it turned some public opinion against Israel in the US, the source said.
The Gaza building attack has prompted some Democratic lawmakers to call foul.
"The increasing loss of civilian lives of Palestinians and Israelis is unconscionable and unacceptable," said Democratic Representative Joaquin Castro.
"I'm particularly disturbed by the disproportionate bombing of the Gaza Strip, including the deaths of at least 92 women and children and the targeting of the Associated Press building."
Smoke rises moments after an Israeli airstrike struck an 11-story building housing the Associated Press and other media outlets, in Gaza City, May 14, 2021. (Photo: AP/Hatem Moussa)
Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted that he had spoken to United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan about the urgent need to halt the violence in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza.
"The loss of life from this crisis is deeply saddening, and it is imperative to restore calm and end this conflict," he said.
The Biden administration has privately blamed the administration of Republican former President Donald Trump for breaking off communications with the Palestinian Authority in its zeal for a pro-Israel policy, believing that has contributed to instability.
While Trump helped negotiate four normalisation deals between Israel and Arab countries, he cut assistance to the Palestinians.
UNITED NATIONS: The United States on Monday (May 17) blocked - for the third time in a week - the adoption of a joint UN Security Council statement calling for a halt to Israeli-Palestinian violence, triggering a new emergency closed-door session set for Tuesday.
The text drafted by China, Tunisia and Norway was submitted late Sunday for approval Monday by the council's 15 members, as Israeli jets continued to pound the Gaza Strip and the death toll from a week of violence passed 200.
The United States indicated that they "could not currently support an expression" by the Security Council, one diplomat told AFP.
The Norwegian diplomatic mission to the UN announced that the Security Council would hold a new emergency closed-door meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Tuesday - its fourth since May 10.
"The situation on the ground continues to deteriorate. Innocent civilians continue being killed and injured. We repeat: stop the fire. End hostilities now," the delegation said on Twitter.
The Security Council has held three emergency meetings on the escalating violence in the past week, the latest on Sunday, without reaching a common position - with Israel's main ally the United States accused of obstructionism.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric underlined the importance of taking a consolidated position on the conflict.
"I would really restate the need for a very strong and unified voice from the Security Council, which we think will carry weight," he told a press conference.
The UN General Assembly will hold an in-person debate on the Israeli-Palestinian clashes at 1400 GMT on Thursday, assembly spokesman Brenden Varma said.
According to diplomats, the session will take place at a ministerial level and several government officials have already indicated they would take part.
PROTECT CIVILIANS, ESPECIALLY CHILDREN
The latest draft text, seen by AFP, called for "de-escalation of the situation, cessation of violence and respect for international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians, especially children."
It voiced the council's "grave concern" at the Gaza crisis and its "serious concern" regarding the possible eviction of Palestinian families from their homes in East Jerusalem, opposing "unilateral actions" likely to further escalate tensions.
The draft also welcomed international efforts to de-escalate the situation, without reference to the United States, and reiterated the council's support for a negotiated two-state solution allowing Israelis and Palestinians to "live side by side in peace within secure and recognised borders".
The US refusal to endorse a joint Security Council statement has been met with disbelief by its allies.
"We are just asking the US to support a statement by the Security Council that would pretty much say similar things which are being saying bilaterally from Washington," one diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
President Joe Biden's administration has insisted that it is working behind the scenes, including through a visit to the region by an envoy, and that a UN statement could backfire, according to diplomats.
BANGKOK: As Thailand struggles to deal with its worst wave of COVID-19 infections, staff in the intensive care unit of Bangkok's King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital are fearful of what may lie ahead.
The country had managed to contain COVID-19 cases for much of the pandemic, but a third wave that began in April and includes more contagious variants has proven harder to control, putting a strain on medical facilities.
More than a dozen nurses dressed in full personal protective equipment care for COVID-19 patients at the intensive care unit ward each shift, along with up to four doctors.
A nurse wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) attends to a patient suffering from COVID-19 in the intensive care unit at the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital in Bangkok on May 11, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha)
A nurse wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) treats a patient suffering from COVID-19 in the intensive care unit at the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital in Bangkok on May 12, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha)
"Each time I wear three layers of plastic protection. It is extremely hot," said nurse Veena Samutkalin, 45.
Since starting work at the 40-bed ward about a month ago, Veena has stopped visiting her relatives, worried about the risk of infecting them.
"I am very concerned about my father, who is now 80 years old," she said. "I don't want to cause any problems for my family."
Thailand's COVID-19 task force said on Sunday (May 16) that 1,228 patients being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals nationwide were in critical condition, with 408 on ventilators.
On Monday, the country reported a daily record of 9,635 new infections and 25 new deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities to 614.
Thailand has administered 2.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to frontline workers and high-risk groups, and expects a broader vaccination drive to start in June with locally manufactured AstraZeneca doses.
A doctor and nurses wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) treat a patient suffering from COVID-19 in the intensive care unit at the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital in Bangkok on May 11, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha)
Medical workers take care of COVID-19 patients in an intensive care unit room in Bangkok. (Photo: Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha)
Veena hopes that her father will be able to get vaccinated soon. In the meantime, she urges people take precautions.
"I want the public to follow the social distancing rules until this period is over," she said.
Manadshaya Bunard, 25, another nurse who recently transferred to the ward, echoed this view.
"I've seen many patients with breathing tubes," said Manadshaya. "So please get the COVID-19 vaccination to avoid the worst-case scenario."
