China beat Taiwan to the punch on Wednesday in announcing the delivery timetable for a highly politicized order of COVID-19 vaccines from BioNTech SE , saying the first 932,000 shots would arrive on the Chinese-claimed island on Thursday.
Taiwan has blamed China for blocking an original order from the German firm earlier this year — charges Beijing has angrily denied.
Taiwan's government subsequently allowed major Apple Inc. supplier Foxconn — formally Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd — as well as its high profile billionaire founder Terry Gou, along with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd, to negotiate on its behalf for the vaccine.