Dozens of countries are looking to China to rescue them from the COVID-19 pandemic. That's because the Chinese government has pledged to donate nearly half a billion vaccine doses worldwide. After China's initial failures in handling the first outbreak, vaccine diplomacy could be a face-saving tactic to change the narrative and expand the country's influence.
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First there was “mask diplomacy” and now there’s “vaccine diplomacy.” In the context of Central Asia, vaccine diplomacy is a hot topic, which pairs well with preexisting narratives about the region as a geopolitical battlefield. Given that Russia and China are major figures in the COVID vaccine arena, it’s natural to contrast their efforts in the region. Can “vaccine diplomacy” change any minds in Central Asia when it comes to the Russia vs. China equation?
“What [vaccine diplomacy] does do is play into existing regional and global agendas,” Alexander Cooley, director of Columbia University’s Harriman Institute, said during an online event put together by IWPR in Central Asia and the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs.
The first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines made by the Serum Institute of India and distributed by the COVAX Facility arriving at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra (AP)
BEIJING: China on Friday welcomed India supplying more Covid-19 vaccines to a number of countries, playing down reports that New Delhi has beaten Beijing in its vaccine diplomacy around the world.
Responding to a question on a report that India has beaten China in its own game of vaccine diplomacy, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin during a media briefing said, “We welcome that and hope to see more countries taking actions to provide vaccines to the world, especially developing countries, to help with the global response.