Jared Adler, a data scientist who works in Tokyo, told Taiwan News he spotted the Taiwan-made face masks in a 7-Eleven in Tokyo's Meguro-ku.
On Jan. 24, Taiwan imposed a ban on the export of face masks, three days after it confirmed the first case of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) infection and domestic demand exploded. The ban included masks manufactured by Taiwan's Yu Yuang Textile Co., Ltd., which has been supplying 7-Eleven in Japan with the face coverings for over two decades.
Since the masks were barred from being exported to Japan and they were not the target of government requisitions, Yu Yuang had no choice but to store the masks in its warehouses. The company then filed a petition with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen to assist in releasing the masks for export, reported Mirror Media.
Kuo said that after he received the petition, he began coordinating with the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) and other departments. Due to the urgent need for raw materials to make masks at the time in Taiwan, MOEA agreed to grant a special exemption for Yu Yuang.
For each face mask Yu Yuang exported, it provided the government with the equivalent amount of meltblown non-woven fabric to produce more in Taiwan. This enabled the Taiwan firm to export 35 million masks to Japan between April and May.
Source: TaiwanNews
Photo credit: TaiwanNews
Kai Chiu (kai@taitra.org.tw)
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