Op-Ed: Tzu Chi Saves Lives, DPP Kills People

"Cheng Shi-Zhong" (an extremely funny nickname—hence the quotation marks) recently claimed he once advised Tzu Chi not to trust brokers, only to be wrongly accused of blocking vaccines.

This is an attempt to confuse the public and whitewash his record, exploiting fading memories five years later.

In reality, it was Tsai Ing-wen who blocked vaccines; Chen was merely her obedient "lap cat" (I didn't say "lap dog"). Tsai's obstruction occurred in two phases:

Phase One: At the end of 2020, she refused to purchase the BNT vaccine from Dongyuan, in order to prop up the domestic Medigen vaccine (which involved serious insider trading. After the Financial Supervisory Commission referred the case, prosecutors demanded supplementary evidence nine times. Taipei District Prosecutors delayed action until public outrage mounted, then arrested a few minor figures as scapegoats. After a party transition, this case must be reinvestigated, with relevant prosecutors named as defendants).

Phase Two: In June 2021, she joined efforts to block Terry Gou’s donation of BNT vaccines, to prevent him from gaining political credit and running in the 2024 presidential election.

Here is the timeline of vaccine obstruction:

(1) September 2020: Medigen began Phase I human trials.

(2) First major evidence: Also in September, Lin Chuan, representing Dongyuan’s BNT vaccine, began contacting Taiwan’s CDC. Germany requested 30 million doses, but Taiwan was willing to buy only up to 2 million. On November 3, the deal collapsed. Lin said, "The water is too deep; I’m out." Taiwan deliberately refused to buy the best vaccine, BNT, to protect Medigen—an act of passive obstruction!

(3) Second ironclad evidence: In May 2021, the "3+11" disaster erupted, killing dozens daily. Fo Guang Shan expressed willingness to donate 500,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines to frontline medical, police, and military personnel. But J&J stated it would only negotiate with governments. The Ministry of Health and Welfare refused to act, rejecting even private donations—active obstruction.

Discussion: In 2020, the first year of the pandemic, the world was in chaos, but Taiwan remained calm. Tsai Ing-wen’s plan was to wait until late 2021, when Medigen would launch, so she avoided purchasing foreign vaccines for two consecutive years to protect Medigen’s profits. But fate intervened: in May 2021, the "3+11" outbreak caused massive deaths. Vaccines had to rely on emergency foreign donations: from the U.S., Japan, Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, etc. Aside from the 2.5 million Moderna doses donated by the U.S. in June (the best), most other donations were riskier AstraZeneca vaccines. The peak death period was May–July. Foreign vaccines only arrived in June, and vaccines take 14 days to become effective—too late. Nearly 800 people died in three months.

Su Chih-hao, a Wind Media columnist and current Go Association chairman, published a long article lamenting, "The government didn’t buy 30 million doses of Dongyuan BNT." If they had, Taiwan could have completed nationwide vaccination by April 2021 (requiring only ~15 million doses; the rest could be resold to Japan, South Korea, or the Philippines). Elderly people would have received optimal protection. According to BNT literature, this could reduce mortality by 90%—saving about 720 lives. The government’s侥幸 (gambling) policy of not buying vaccines killed them!

(4) Most outrageous: even as people were dying in large numbers in May 2021, Tsai Ing-wen continued blocking Terry Gou’s BNT purchase. First, the Ministry of Health handed him eight review documents to fill out. If the government truly wanted to save lives, it should have sent staff to help complete the paperwork and expedite approval. Instead, Gou was left to fight alone. Tseng Hsin-i said Gou spent every morning rushing around dealing with these documents—this was de facto obstruction. On June 17, the "Miss Bigshot" incident occurred, urging him not to buy. Tzu Chi started later, submitting documents in late June. Its CEO, Yen Po-wen, also complained of being劝阻 by political and business elders not to buy vaccines. The situation was already critical, yet the DPP still blocked it—enraging Master Cheng Yen. Ko Wen-je said, "If Master Cheng Yen hadn’t turned angry, the vaccines would never have entered Taiwan." This is absolutely credible. Ko and his wife are both renowned physicians, understand vaccines, and as a government official, he understood how the system worked. At the time, he hadn’t yet faced judicial persecution. He had no reason to slander the DPP. He also simultaneously said, "Medigen’s protection efficacy is not bad," proving his impartiality. Huang Shan-shan, dubbed "Little Ying’s girl," said during her Taipei mayoral campaign: "Vaccines aren’t unavailable; it’s whether the government allows you to buy them." Recall that Fo Guang Shan was also blocked but silently backed down. But Tzu Chi is different—its civil power exceeds Fo Guang Shan’s tenfold. Tsai couldn’t afford to provoke it, so she smiled, visited Master Cheng Yen, and praised her vaccine contribution. Meanwhile, to prevent Terry Gou from gaining political credit and running in 2024, she abruptly pulled in Chang Chong-ming, splitting Gou’s planned 10 million doses: half to be purchased by TSMC under Chang’s name, with TSMC handling negotiations with Germany. Recently, green media claimed this was a "trade" for TSMC’s German factory—complete nonsense. At the time, TSMC had no plans to build overseas factories, as it hadn’t yet been pressured by Trump! In other words, just like Chiang Kai-shek preventing Sun Li-jen from gaining merit, Tsai did everything to downplay Gou’s contribution, preventing him from taking sole credit. Ultimately, Tzu Chi, Hon Hai, and TSMC each bought 5 million doses. Everyone should remember: it was Terry Gou who kept demanding to buy vaccines. Chang Chong-ming never said he wanted to buy—he suddenly appeared at the last minute, a masterpiece by Tsai!

For Tsai, Gou winning the 2024 election is a nightmare. Peng Wen-cheng would return to Taiwan, her fake PhD case would be retried, and she’d face prison for fraud and forgery. Plus, Medigen insider trading, Su Chi-chen’s suicide… case after case awaits. Her perfect life would end. So she must emulate Chiang Kai-shek: "Take personal survival as my mission, disregard the nation’s life and death"—no matter how many die, Terry Gou must not buy vaccines!

Also "funny": Peng Wen-cheng exposed on "Politics & Economy Unfiltered" in June 2021: "Tsai Ing-wen and top DPP officials secretly got BNT shots at AIT." This occurred around the same time as the "Miss Bigshot" incident, showing DPP elites were even more determined to block BNT—because they’d already secured their own safety. "Let the Taoist brother die, not me!"

"Cheng Shi-Zhong" repeatedly claims he absolutely didn’t block vaccines. Then, as Ge Si-qi suggested in the Wang Ting-yu scandal, he should join Tsai Ing-wen in swearing at a Mazu temple: "If we blocked vaccines, may we suffer divine punishment!"

Tzu Chi Merit Calculation

Recently, Tzu Chi has been fiercely attacked by green media for paying excessive vaccine commissions (NT$1.06 billion). But even if this amount was scammed, Tzu Chi hasn’t lost donors’ merit—it still profits. Calculation as follows: The government’s refusal to buy Dongyuan BNT caused 720 deaths. Now, Tzu Chi, Hon Hai, and TSMC jointly bought vaccines, saving the subsequent 720 lives. Dividing merit equally, each saved 240. But because Tsai blocked Gou to protect Medigen and initially wouldn’t approve, it was Master Cheng Yen’s "King Wen’s fury" that turned the tide. Thus, Tzu Chi’s contribution was pivotal—without it, Hon Hai and TSMC couldn’t have earned this merit. Therefore, each should transfer 1/5 of their merit to Tzu Chi. Final merit tally: Hon Hai and TSMC each saved 192, Tzu Chi saved 336. Life is priceless—Tzu Chi’s earned merit far exceeds the commission loss. Moreover, most of these commissions can be recovered through civil lawsuits.

Currently, Yahoo News is filled with green media attacking Tzu Chi’s commission case—opportunistic retaliation for being forced to buy vaccines back then. Tzu Chi’s commission issue arose mainly because the Tsai administration blocked vaccines, deliberately delaying until Medigen launched and began vaccinations in late August, only allowing BNT into Taiwan in September. The June contract was rushed and urgent, giving brokers an opening. Thus, the true culprit remains the DPP Tsai administration!

*Author is a civil judicial reform activist