The Art of The Deal: The Truth Behind China’s Vaccine Diplomacy

Opinion Policy Analysis by Johnny Achkar, Contributor

March 9th, 2021

A little over a year has passed since the first appearance of the novel coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan, and the world still has many questions about where and how it originated. China managed to contain the spread, even holding massive parties in Wuhan, the probable epicenter of the outbreak. Meanwhile, the virus went on to ravage most of the world, infecting over a hundred million individuals and killing two million people. Any efforts to examine the sources of COVID-19 have been greatly restrained by the Chinese authorities, who at the same time have been promoting competing hypotheses that the pandemic emerged elsewhere. At the height of the coronavirus outbreak, Beijing faced massive foreign condemnation for its nontransparent actions. In many advanced economies, hostile public attitudes against China have risen dramatically. The Communist State has since turned to the broad spectrum of its propagandic methods in its effort to fend off the allegations. With its own homegrown vaccines, China is planting flags globally, for cheap or free, while Europe and North America are struggling with production delays and coronavirus disputes.

China hopes to be the vaccine factory of the planet. Chinese pharmaceutical companies are currently developing many anti-COVID-19 vaccines. With a vast manufacturing capability, these vaccines can easily be made available and in large quantities once authorized, allowing Beijing to deploy them even quicker than its adversary, the United States, as a diplomatic instrument. On the other hand, American and European authorities have pre-purchased millions of vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna for internal use. The U.S. entered into an arrangement with Pfizer to procure 100 million vaccine doses for its population of about 330 million, and the EU has pre-purchased 200 million doses for its population of about 450 million. As a result, African governments and the CDC in Africa are being pushed to pursue alternative sources of vaccines. The immunization campaign is anticipated to be among the biggest in the history of the continent. The COVAX initiative of the World Health Organization strives to help developed countries obtain vaccines. However, the policy will cover only the neediest 20 percent of the population of each nation. African policymakers are exploring offers to obtain vaccinations that are regarded with suspicion in the West to make up for COVAX's small scope. Several governments have conveyed their interest in China's leading vaccine in particular. After reporting a 79 percent efficacy rate in interim late-stage trials, the SinoPharm vaccine obtained approval for distribution on January 4.

Last month China’s top diplomat, the Foreign Minister Wang Yi, toured Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Botswana, Tanzania and the Seychelles. This is the first of his international annual trips to Africa, following a three-decade trend.

This tradition signifies the diplomatic value of Africa to China, with stops in locations such as the Seychelles, a sparsely inhabited archipelago, showing that no country is insignificant to Beijing, and helps to shame Western countries that usually ignore the continent but also regard it as within their normal orbit of influence. In May, Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the necessity of vaccines for developed countries, promising to supply the Chinese vaccine at a reasonable price as a 'public good.' On October 16, Liu Jingzhen, chair of SinoPharm, toldfifty African diplomats visiting a SinoPharm vaccine factory that "it will take the lead in helping African countries after the COVID-19 vaccine is developed and put into use." Rwanda's Ambassador to China, James Kimonyo, reflected on the scale and expertise of SinoPharm in producing polio, yellow fever, and smallpox vaccines, saying that the visit was "an eye-opener" that led him to "hope that we would get the vaccines sometime soon. " This "vaccine diplomacy" is a continuation of the attempts of China to position itself as the solution to the pandemic, rather than the cause. Chinese President Xi Jinping has concentrated since the early days of the COVID-19 epidemic on publicizing Chinese attempts to provide humanitarian assistance worldwide. The Jack Ma Foundation shipped over four hundred tons of medical supplies across Africa from March to mid-October, including monthly deliveries of thirty million research kits, ten thousand ventilators, and eight million surgical masks, according to the state-owned China Global Television Network.

According to EU reports, the bloc looks likely to obtain only a quarter of the 100 million doses anticipated by the pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca by the end of March, as things stand. As such, China has stepped up its activities in the Western Balkans, providing injections and accumulating political wins in the region, as countries in Europe are dealing with shortages of COVID-19 vaccines. Serbia has emerged as the spearhead of China's 'vaccine diplomacy' in Europe, and the Balkan country has sped ahead of the bloc's own vaccination campaign with over 1 million doses of China's state-backed Sinopharm jab. 

Although Serbia is a Russian ally and has ambitions to join the European Union, under President Aleksandar Vucic, the country’s relations with china have further strengthened and deepened in recent years. During the pandemic, the president did not hesitate to advocate the strong relations of his country with Beijing by attending several high-profile press events to applaud China's assistance and kissing the Chinese flag in March after Chinese humanitarian aid landed in Belgrade. As of 16 February, Serbia had given at least 11.2 percent of its almost 7 million citizens the first vaccine, outpacing the EU, led by Denmark, with 6.9 percent of its population getting the first injection. 

President Aleksandar once stated, "Today it is easier to get a nuclear weapon than to get a vaccine.” The president was critical of the EU when, on a separate occasion, he said, "The world has hit an iceberg, like the Titanic: The rich and the richest only save themselves and their loved ones," President Vucic said. "[The EU countries] have prepared expensive lifeboats for them, and those of us who aren't rich, who are small, like the countries of the Western Balkans -- we're drowning together in the Titanic."

A high-risk, high-reward venture appears to be China's vaccine diplomacy. China would be honored if SinoPharm's vaccine returns a feeling of normalcy to life in these nations. However, the beautifully designed portrayal of China, one focused on values of integrity and philanthropy, may be destroyed if the vaccine is unsuccessful or causes unintended health consequences. Vaccine donations and diplomacy from China are only part of a far bigger political dance. As China dominates its Waltz with the United States, moving its own pace whilst leading the United States by hand into competitive territory.