China faces a major test in its vaccine diplomacy, with its deadline approaching as to whether it will formally join a global health organization-sponsored effort to ensure Everybody around the world has been’ vaccinated against COVID 19.
Friday is the final day for governments to
decide whether to participate in COVAX, a $ 18 billion initiative that seeks to
give low-income countries access to vaccines like rich countries. Beijing has
said it will "help" Kovacs without explicitly stating that it is
investing in the project. The verified list of participants will be published’
on Monday, September 21, according to the World Health Organization.
Signing up will help improve China's image
around the world of how it handled the initial epidemic in Wuhan, especially
since the Trump administration refused to join the Caucasus. So far, Beijing
has focused on cutting one-to-one contracts for vaccine doses with friendly
governments as the United States moves away from the United States to Chinese
companies for 5G networks, computer chips and large infrastructure projects.
Has appealed.
“Beijing is facing criticism from the West
over the launch of Covid 19 in Wuhan, and China's transparency in the early
days of the virus's spread," said Eurasia Group analyst Kelsey Broderick.
"Joining a popular initiative like Kovacs will definitely help change the
perception that China is a bad actor."
President Xi Jinping promised in May that
the vaccine developed by China would be a global "public good" that
everyone could share. However, China has not made it clear whether it will
sign, but Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said this month that
China's actions were "similar to those of the Caucasus."
CovAX, also led by the Alliance's
Infectious Diseases Preparatory Innovations and Vaccine Alliance Gavi, to give
governments a chance to curb the risk of backing failed vaccine candidates and
give LDCs access to shots. Which would otherwise be unbearable. It has nine
vaccines in development and is under re-evaluation in its portfolio. The goal
is to save 2 billion doses by 2021.
Self-financing countries can pay a front
fee for the amount of the vaccine, which can be up to 50% of their population,
although the shots will be’ distributed to the relatively poor and rich
countries as soon as they become available. Governments that sign up are free
to reach bilateral agreements to secure supplies separately.
It would be a big deal for Kovacs to ship
to China, which had discussed about 172 countries to participate by August 24.
The possibility of feeding even a fraction of China's 1.4 billion people will
boost the alliance, which will boost alliance talks. power
For China, Kovacs can serve as a kind of
insurance policy that gives it access to any successfully developed vaccine.
While being a member does not necessarily mean that Chinese vaccines will be
included in the Caucasus portfolio, it is possible that this is the case. China
can also provide manufacturing support for a successful vaccine, regardless of
which country it develops.
Participation could mean that Chinese
vaccine makers play a key role in the global rollout. And if China's advanced
vaccines were chosen’ their brands would benefit from WHO certification,
according to Xiao Kong Lu Boynton, an adviser to the Albright Stonebridge
Group, which specializes in healthcare and life sciences. Focus
"It will be a huge boost for Beijing,
both industrially and politically," he said.
Diplomatic angle
China does not have much experience in
developing and distributing vaccines for global consumption. The industry's
reputation was tarnished’ in 2018 when two Chinese vaccine makers were found to
be cutting corners in production, hurting trust at home and abroad.
Nevertheless, China has been at the
forefront of developing vaccines against the corona virus. Nine Chinese vaccine
candidates have entered clinical trials, and four of them have received
approval for the final phase III clinical trials in foreign countries.
The Tianjin-based casino was the first in
the world to reach the final stages of human testing for a vaccine developed in
collaboration with the Chinese military. CanSino Biologics, Sinovac
Biotech Limited and China National Biotech Group have started testing in
countries including Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, UAE, Peru, Chile and Morocco.
The vaccine could help make Beijing a lost
diplomatic arena, as China faces threats to Taiwan, as well as human rights
abuses in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. China has pledged to prioritize food supplies
to at least 62 countries, including governments that have received
infrastructure loans under the Food Belt and Road Initiative. Indonesia,
Bangladesh, Pakistan and Morocco have formal agreements with major Chinese
vaccine manufacturers, and Egypt is close to signing them.
"Both the Chinese government and
state-owned enterprises want to protect their infrastructure projects, as well
as the personnel on the ground, if the epidemic situation in these countries
improves," said Yuji, a senior Chinese research fellow at think tank
Chatham House. If so, it will also help China.
Latin American and Caribbean countries
have been promised’ a $1 billion loan to buy Chinese-designed vaccines.
Currently, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, and Argentina have all pledged to test the
Chinese vaccine. The region has been’ hit hardest by the deaths of Brazil,
Mexico and Peruvian, among the top 10 countries in the world.
Trusting China
Yoshikazu Kato, an associate professor at
the Asia Global Institute at the University of Hong Kong, said Xi, who
specializes in Chinese diplomacy, lacked global confidence in China due to Xi's
aggressive foreign policy. Has cast doubt on the conduct and intentions of .
"Under these circumstances, how can
countries trust China?" They said.
An incident involving Ken Sino and Canada
allayed fears that China could use its vaccine for political purposes.
According to the National Research Council of Canada, the Chinese company was
to send its vaccine candidate to begin clinical trials in Canada, but Chinese
customs did not approve the shipment.
Malaysia is in talks with several parties,
including China. "We have more questions than answers at the moment,"
said Noor Hisham Abdullah, the Southeast Asian country's director general of
health. Had agreed to buy millions of doses, and is expected’ to be ready by
the end of next year.
Not everyone is related. The Philippines,
which has agreed to accept the vaccine from the United States, Russia and
China, has rejected the notion that China is using the vaccine for diplomatic
purposes. "China has no concerns about vaccines," said Theodore Locsin,
Philippine foreign secretary.
"I think it's in China's interest to
join China," said Wang Huiyao, a Chinese cabinet adviser and founder of
the Center for China and Globalization. If the world is still plagued’ by
epidemics, China will not be in a better position.
READ MORE
