You mean Germany needs to be the middleman?
Taiwan is trying to test out the water to see if they can bypass Forsun Pharma and work out a deal directly with BioNTech when
Germany came to them asking for TSMC chips for German cars, but I think the best Taiwan could get out of this is a guarantee of German-made supply and a German mascot for the Taiwanese press conferences, and right now a German representative can still pull a lot of weight in providing some credibility for the BioNTech doses that Forsun hold distribution rights to.
If a deal is sorted out before the Chinese factory are up, the doses are shipped from Germany to China before reaching Taiwan, but Germany will be the face of the campaign as the vaccine's manufacturer, there's still a nice "Made in Germany" label on every box, and the Taiwanese government can play up Germany's presence without ever mentioning the Chinese middle man who does the overseas distribution, just like Hong Kong never mentioned Forsun Pharma in their announcement about procuring BioNTech vaccines a few weeks ago.
If nothing materializes before the Chinese factory are up, the doses for the "Greater China region" will all soon be made in China, by that time a German representative is useless with a "Made in China" label sticked on every BioNTech vial, and Taiwan would probably get something else if they can't get a German-made supply.
The Chinese company might find itself under pressure not to sell to Taiwan?
China would RELISH on the fact that a Chinese company holds the right to dustribute BioNTech vaccine for Taiwan. They gets to play the role of the Motherland taking care of her wayward son, and they will be damn sure to rubs it in Taiwan's face.
BioNTech's contract with Forsun Pharma as the exclusive distributor for the "Greater China region" is pretty clear cut. A guarantee from Germany that all BioNTech vaccine doses distributed to Taiwan by Forsun Pharma will be made in Germany (plus a German mascot) is the best they could possibly get.
As for the chips-for-vaccine offer, that's complicated as hell because neither the chips nor vaccines are made by the government involved, and they can't just take Forsun out of the equation, so I don't think it will go anywhere.
For that trade to work, the Taiwanese government will have to buy the chips from TSMC, sell them to the German government, who buy the chips on behalf of the German car industry, who then pay Taiwan, who would pay Forsun, who would pay BioNTech for the vaccine.
My prediction: nothing will come out of that, Taiwan probably will ends up getting some made-in-Germany BioNTech vaccine through Forsun, or getting something else. Time is on their side though since they have very few cases, so they can afford to wait for other options, even the vaccines that are just wrapping up their Phase 3 trials now.