The Guardian. 作者: Helen Davidson.
How Taiwan’s struggle for Covid vaccines is inflaming tensions with China
台灣對疫苗取得的掙扎是如何激化與中國之間的對立
As island faces new outbreak and mistrust of Chinese jabs, Beijing objects to
donations from US and Japan
當這座島嶼面臨新的疫情爆發與對中國疫苗的不信任，北京向美國與日本的捐贈表達抗議
Vaccines are the latest flashpoint inflaming cross-strait tensions between
China and Taiwan, as the latter tries to fend off its worst coronavirus
outbreak since the pandemic began with a mostly unvaccinated population and
the former rails against outside assistance from Taipei’s allies.
疫苗是兩岸緊張關係最新的引爆點，當台灣正試圖以一個近乎完全沒有接種疫苗的人口抵
擋其自全球大流行以來最嚴重的一次冠狀病毒爆發，而中國聲明譴責來自台北盟友們的協
助。
Global vaccination drives are widely seen as the only way out of the Covid-19
pandemic, but in Taiwan, just 3% of the population has received at least one
dose. Now the island is battling hundreds of cases a day and does not have
enough vaccines for its 23.5 million people.
全球的疫苗接種被廣泛視為Covid-19疫情的唯一出路，然而在台灣僅3%的人口接種了一劑
以上的疫苗。現在這座島嶼正與每天上百名確診案例戰鬥，卻沒有足夠的疫苗給其2350萬
的國民。
Affected by global shortages, low initial orders, and accusations of
geopolitical interference, it has received only a few million doses, and
international allies are stepping up to help.
受到全球短缺，低量的訂單影響與指控地緣政治的干預，台灣僅收到百萬餘的劑量，此時
其國際盟友正挺身幫助。
On 4 June, Japan sent a plane carrying 1.24m AstraZeneca doses and days later
a delegation of US senators flew to Taipei to announce a donation of 750,000
doses.
在六月四日，日本派送了裝載124萬劑AZ疫苗的飛機，而數日之後美國參議員的代表團飛
到台北宣布75萬劑疫苗的捐贈。
Both countries cited their close friendship with Taiwan and noted,
respectively, Taiwan’s assistance to Japan after the 2011 tsunami and to the
US early in the pandemic. The donations were enthusiastically welcomed by
Taipei, with huge messages of thanks projected on to buildings in the city.
兩國都重申了他們與台灣的緊密友誼，日本提及了2011年的海嘯，美國則提及疫情爆發初
期來自台灣的協助。這些捐贈被台北當局熱切歡迎，還在城市中的大樓投影了巨大的感謝
訊息。
Beijing strongly objected. China’s foreign ministry suggested Japan was
exploiting the pandemic “to put on political shows”, and accused the US of
breaching the “one-China” principle, which asserts that Taiwan is an
inalienable part of China.
北京強烈的抗議。中國外交部表示日本是在利用疫情「來政治作秀」，與控訴美國違反了
堅持台灣是中國不可分離一部分的「一個中國」原則。
Both donations showed how much less Tokyo and Washington worry about
aggravating Beijing, amid deteriorating relations. Drew Thompson, a former US
defence department official responsible for managing bilateral relations with
China and Taiwan, said it was probably a logistical coincidence that Japan’s
vaccines arrived on the hypersensitive anniversary of the Tiananmen Square
massacre, and that the US senators flew in on a military plane. But previous
administrations in Tokyo and Washington might have ensured they didn’t.
兩筆捐贈顯示了東京與華盛頓在惡化的關係中都並不避諱激怒北京當局。曾負責中國與台
雙邊關係的前任美國國防部官員Drew Thompson表示這或許是整備上的巧合讓日本的疫苗
在非常敏感的天安門大屠殺周年抵達，以及美國的參議員搭乘軍機飛入台北，但從前的東
京與華盛頓政府大概會保證他們不讓這些巧合發生。
“The donations were less about the China relationship than they were about
helping Taiwan,” Thompson said. “[Japan and the US] have a vested interest
in supporting Taiwan. Taiwan is a major trading partner, a critical supply
chain link, there’s Japanese expats in Taiwan, there’s strong affinity
between two cultures.
「這些捐贈比起考量與中國的關係，他們更在乎幫助台灣。」Thompson說。「(日本與美
國)在支持台灣上具有既得利益。台灣是主要的貿易夥伴，關鍵的供應鏈連結，有許多在
台的日人和兩個文化間強烈的親和感。」
“Japan is really doing this because it’s in their interest to keep the
population of Taiwan healthy,” he said, also citing Taiwan’s globally
crucial semiconductor manufacturing.
「日本是認真的基於他的利益讓台灣的人口保持健康狀態，」他說，並且提及了台灣在全
球重要的半導體製程。
“You’re not supporting Taiwan just to antagonise China, and that gets lost
a lot in these conversations.”
「你不是純然為了與中國對立而支持台灣的，而這在許多對話中都未被提及。」
Chinese jabs would be political ‘kiss of death’
中國疫苗會變成政治的「死亡之吻」
Beijing says it has the answer to Taiwan’s problems, offering to supply
vaccines to the government or – after Taiwan rejected that offer – directly
to any resident who wants to fly to China for a jab.
北京表示他有台灣問題的解答，提議供應疫苗或是