In addition to repairing the tense relations with some countries
China is using Corona vaccines to build its soft power
The Chinese president pledged to assist African countries in facing Corona.
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China is testing several vaccines in different countries.
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China brought the virus under control in its first months.
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The Philippines will get a Chinese vaccine for the "Corona" virus quickly, and countries in Latin America and the Caribbean will receive 1 billion dollars in loans to buy the drug.
Bangladesh will also get more than 100,000 free doses from a Chinese company.
It doesn't matter if China is still months away from producing a vaccine safe for public use.
Beijing is taking advantage of the possibility of discovering the drug, in a magic attack, aimed at repairing damaged relations and strengthening relations with friends in areas that China considers vital to its interests.
For example, Chinese President Xi Jinping assured the president of Indonesia, which has always been wary of Beijing, in a call last week that "China takes Indonesia's concerns and needs seriously in the field of vaccine cooperation."
Ping hailed the two countries' cooperation in developing a vaccine, describing it as a "new bright spot" in bilateral relations.
He promised: "China and Indonesia will jointly continue to show solidarity against (Covid-19)."
Beijing is providing vaccine aid, as well as previous shipments of masks and respirators, around the world, seeking to project itself as a responsible player, while the United States is pushing back from global leadership.
Beijing's moves could also help in diminishing calls for the ruling Communist Party to bear responsibility for its initial mistakes, when the Corona virus first appeared in China last December.
The ability to develop vaccines and provide them to poor countries will also be a strong sign of China's rise as a scientific leader, in a new world order, during the post-epidemic phase.
"People are very willing to take a Chinese vaccine," said the official at the National Institute of Health in Pakistan, where two Chinese vaccine makers are running experiments, Ghazal Parveen. "In fact, people ask that the vaccine be ready as soon as possible."
By some measures, China leads the global race for the Corona vaccine, and it has four candidates in the final stage of clinical trials, more than any other country.
The United States has three candidate vaccines in late stages of trials. Pfizer says it may apply for emergency approval as early as October, and Moderna says it hopes to develop a vaccine by the end of the year;
Whereas, "AstraZenica", a British-Swedish company that received funding from the US government, stopped the last-stage experiments last week due to a suspected serious negative reaction in one of the participants, and then repeated the experiments two days ago.
Quiet expansion
China has approved at least two experimental vaccines as part of the emergency use program that began in July with soldiers and employees of state companies, and has quietly expanded to include healthcare and aviation workers.
Vaccine manufacturers have built factories that can produce hundreds of thousands of doses.
China has long viewed contributing to global health as an opportunity to build its soft power.
In this, Jennifer Huang Puy, an epidemiologist and expert on Chinese affairs at the RAND Corporation, says: “The (Chinese) government certainly wants to succeed in producing a good vaccine, while many countries want that too.” “It is useful for its diplomacy and changing the narrative on (Covid-19) ».
But Chinese vaccine companies that have traveled abroad to conduct clinical trials have sparked controversy, amid concerns that locals will be treated like lab rats.
With so much still unknown about the coronavirus, vaccines may reach the final stage of trials, only to get stuck.
Despite the uncertainty, Beijing has confidently pushed for its potential vaccines, and has used them to help ease disputes.
Last month, Premier Li Kechiang met with officials from Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam to calm criticism that China had contributed to a devastating drought in Southeast Asian countries.
The Chinese official also offered Chinese vaccines, a suggestion that was well received.
In a speech delivered at the summit itself, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who is a staunch supporter of China, singled out Beijing with praise, saying that he "would like to express his great appreciation for our friend China’s efforts to produce a vaccine."
In the Philippines, where China and the United States are competing for influence, President Rodrigo Duterte told lawmakers in July that he had "made an appeal" to Ping, to help with vaccines.
He also said he would not confront China over its claims to the South China Sea.
Chinese leaders have made similar offers to countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and South Asia, regions where Beijing has sought to expand its influence.
"We pledge that once the development of a vaccine is completed, in China, African countries will be among the first to benefit," the Chinese president said at a meeting of African leaders in June.
And Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi promised last July that China would provide loans of one billion dollars for vaccines to Latin America and the Caribbean.
Special conditions
For all its talk of providing vaccines for the public good, China appears determined to do so, only on its own terms.
And she has been conservative about whether she plans to join "Kovacs", a mechanism supported by the World Health Organization, which aims to help countries distribute a vaccine for the Corona virus fairly (the Trump administration has flatly rejected the initiative).
"In fact, we have already cooperated with some countries," said a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Hua Chunying, last week. "China always fulfills its commitments."
And if China wins the race to get a vaccine, it will owe its success to some of these countries, which have played an indispensable role by providing Chinese vaccine makers with human tests.
Chinese pharmaceutical companies have taken their research abroad because the outbreak at home has been under control for months.
In Bangladesh, the Beijing-based vaccine manufacturer Syunvac Biotech is testing its vaccine on 4,200 health care workers in the capital, Dhaka.
The Chinese company has agreed to provide more than 110,000 free vaccine doses to this country, according to the Executive Director of the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research in Bangladesh, Dr. John de Clemens, who is helping to conduct the experiments, and this is a small contribution to a country of 170 million people, which is one of the poorest Asian countries.
Despite their participation in Chinese clinical trials, Bangladeshis fear that vaccines may be out of reach for most of the country's citizens.
But China is already raising concerns in the countries that receive its initiatives, as well as from regional powers that see Beijing encroaching on its spheres of influence.
And in Nepal, where China wants to conduct clinical trials on 500 workers at a cement company, politicians have raised questions about vaccine safety and lack of transparency.
"Should we not be sure of its side effects?" Said former Nepal foreign minister and leader of the main opposition party, Prakash Charan Mahat.
In addition, India, concerned about Beijing's intentions in South Asia, has responded to China's offers to provide vaccines to Bangladesh and Nepal, by pledging to supply New Delhi's allies with vaccines.
• The ability to develop vaccines and provide them to poor countries will also be a strong indication of the rise of China as a scientific leader, in a new world order, during the post-epidemic phase.
• Chinese vaccine companies that traveled abroad to conduct clinical trials have sparked controversy amid fears that local residents will be treated like guinea pigs. Despite the uncertainty, Beijing has confidently pushed for its potential vaccines, and has used them to help ease disputes.
Sui Li Wei is the New York Times correspondent in Beijing
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