The American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan has issued a letter to the United States Department of State and The White House seeking to secure more vaccines for Taiwan.

The content of the open letter from Chairperson CW Chin is as follows:

On behalf of the over 1,000 members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan, the majority of whom participate in the supply chains for semiconductors, ICT goods, pharmaceuticals and other technologies critical to American jobs and prosperity, I convey our request that the United States act quickly to help Taiwan secure badly needed supplies of vaccines.

Recent COVID-19 outbreaks in northern Taiwan have placed enormous strains on manufacturing operations that are among the most complex and sensitive on the planet. As you set surplus vaccine distribution criteria, our Chamber wishes to underscore that Taiwan’s capacity to continue and even expand manufacturing output is in-trinsically linked to U.S. national economic interests. At the current juncture in America’s economic recovery further disruptions to the supply of semiconductors for the automobile sector, in particular, would be devastating.

As many Americans will recall, Taiwan provided significant help to the United States in the form of millions of sets of critically needed medical supplies at the outset of the pandemic last year. Taiwan’s performance combatting COVID has been the more remarkable given its exclusion from participation in key fora such as the World Health Assembly.

We appreciate the efforts from the White House and the Department of State to do everything possible to supply Taiwan with much needed vaccines.

Sincerely yours,
C.W. Chin
Chairperson
The American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan