Japan’s vaccine aid shows intention

• By Chen Yung-chang 陳永昌

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi announced last week that Tokyo would donate an additional 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Taiwan, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in Taiwan to 3.9 million.

The Japanese government has also announced that it will send an additional 400,000 doses to Vietnam, bringing the country’s total to 3.1 million.

To date, Japan has donated more than 23 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Taiwan and Vietnam being the two first recipients of Japanese donations, it is revealing. As part of the US-Japan security alliance, Tokyo has the responsibility to protect Taiwan, while Tokyo sees Vietnam as a key security partner in its Indo-Pacific strategic framework.

When Motegi announced Japan’s fourth tranche of foreign vaccine aid last month, he said the program was based on an assessment of factors including the viral situation on the ground, the capacity of the country’s medical system and the adoption of vaccines, in addition to the COVID-19 situation in Japan.

Although the fourth installment was to vaccinate Japanese expatriates as well as citizens of recipient countries, the first three installments were based on viral status, hospital capacity and vaccination.

For example, in Vietnam, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has long remained below 3,000 and the nation has, for some time, been a model for effectively suppressing the virus.

However, after the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 arrived in Vietnam in April, the number of new infections increased sharply. In just four months, 680,000 new confirmed cases were recorded in Vietnam and deaths topped 17,000.

At the height of the epidemic in Vietnam in late August, the number of new cases reached a record high of more than 17,000 in a single day.

On June 4, Japan was the first country to announce aid to Taiwan with a donation of 1.24 million doses of the vaccine. On June 16, he announced that he would provide Vietnam with 1 million shots. Since then, Tokyo has shown that it regards Taiwan and Vietnam as two vital nations in its vaccine diplomacy.

Compared to Vietnam’s precarious situation, Taiwan has so far phased out the Delta variant by introducing a nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert.

Taiwan’s success was praised by Japan Representative Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), who said: “Quantitative assessment shows that Taiwan is [no longer] Priority in Japan ”for vaccination assistance.

Aid from Tokyo has undoubtedly been a key factor in Taiwan’s success so far, and it has established a virtuous circle of mutual assistance between Tokyo and Taipei.

In particular, in the face of the common threat of aggressive military expansion from China, the two nations must stand in solidarity during the difficult times that lie ahead. A warning earlier this year from a White House spokesperson that Taiwan’s vaccine supply route had been cut was a key moment for Japanese officials and galvanized Tokyo.

In mid-March, the United States, Japan, Australia and India breathed new life into the framework of the quadrilateral security dialogue, hosting a virtual summit at which the leaders of the four countries met. committed to working together to build a safe and reliable vaccine supply chain in Asia.

In mid-April, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga visited US President Joe Biden in Washington. In a joint statement from the leaders released by the White House, Suga and Biden pledged that the United States and Japan will “cooperate on global COVID-19 vaccine supply and manufacturing needs to end the pandemic.”

After successfully helping Taiwan and Vietnam, Japan began expanding its vaccine diplomacy in July, each providing Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand with 1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Tokyo’s efforts enabled it to lock the island nations of Southeast Asia and the Pacific into its strategic sphere of influence. This dovetails perfectly with the Indo-Pacific strategy of the United States in terms of the division of labor, while also thwarting Beijing’s expansion of its political, economic and military influence in the region through a rival program of help with vaccines.

Vietnam is the biggest winner in the US-China trade dispute and one of the main beneficiaries of vaccine diplomacy. In addition to aid from Tokyo, Vietnam received 6 million doses from the United States, 2.6 million doses from the EU and 1.5 million doses from Australia.

Not to be outdone, Beijing announced an increase of 3 million doses of Chinese vaccines against COVID-19 in Hanoi, bringing the total to 5.7 million vaccines.

These figures clearly demonstrate the strategic importance of Vietnam in the geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific region.

Unlike Vietnam, Taiwan’s complicated international status made it much more difficult to obtain vaccines. Without Japan’s help, Vietnam, with its much larger population, would have stolen a march on Taiwan.

Taiwan and Japan stand side by side in the front line when it comes to vaccine diplomacy.

Chen Yung-chang is a business leader.

Translated by Edward Jones