Is China using access to Covid-19 vaccines as a diplomatic weapon?

With China nearing completion of tests on a Covid-19 vaccine, top Chinese officials and some of its drugmakers have promised countries of strategic interest that they will have early access to the vaccine, according to the Wall Street Journal.

China’s Foreign Ministry has vowed to provide the Philippines with priority early access to the vaccine while Chinese firm Sinovac Biotech will be working with Brazil and Indonesia to manufacture several millions of doses of a vaccine candidate for use in those countries.

Pakistan, one of China’s closest allies in South Asia, would be given doses sufficient for a fifth of the country’s population. Earlier, the two nations signed a deal that allowed China National Pharmaceutical Group, also known as Sinopharm, to conduct clinical trials of its vaccine candidate in Pakistan.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in July that the decision on the Philippines, a country with claims in the South China Sea, was made after President Rodrigo Duterte made a direct plea to Chinese premier Xi Jinping for access to Chinese vaccines, said the report.

Beijing has not revealed details of vaccine-sharing agreements made with other countries but official Chinese statements suggest that China is willing to blur humanitarian objectives and foreign-policy objectives goals to garner support for Chinese claims and policies, WSJ reported.

In Bangladesh, major Chinese vaccine producer Sinovac has partnered with Dhaka-based International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research. The Bangladeshi centre is helping Sinovac clinch approvals to recruit volunteers.

China is one of the world’s largest producers of vaccines, making several hundred million doses every year. Chinese vaccine manufacturers are now ramping up capacity to develop vaccines for Covid-19. Considering that China has managed to largely control the spread of Covid-19, the country has the flexibility to share a vaccine with other countries, the report said.