ASEAN distances from China’s Covid vaccine diplomacy

By S.P.S Pannu New Delhi, Nov 28 : In a major setback to Chinas devious vaccine diplomacy, ASEAN members Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia on Friday sealed deals for procuring Covid-19 vaccines from Britain and the US.
China deliberately delayed divulging details of the genetic material of the coronavirus, that originated in Wuhan at the end of 2019, which had handicapped efforts of other countries to develop a vaccine to fight the pandemic.
Since China was the only country to have key information about the deadly coronavirus in the initial stages, it got a head start for developing a vaccine. Ironically, the authoritarian nation then started offering its potential vaccine to other countries with strings attached so that it could gain more geopolitical clout.
This was reflected in the visits of senior Chinese leaders, including Premier Li Keqiang to the ASEAN region, during which these countries were assured that they would get “priority” for the vaccine. However, newspapers in Hong Kong and Singapore have reported that as a quid pro quo for the vaccine, the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian nations) members had been asked to support China at the World Health Organisation (WHO) as it has been facing the heat for hiding information on the highly contagious coronavirus.
Citing a source privy to Li’s meeting with ASEAN leaders, a reporter from China’s Xinhua news agency had also posted on his Weibo account that Li had made ASEAN support at the WHO a prerequisite for the assistance to fight Covid-19.
Beijing has been looking for support to ward off international pressure for an independent investigation into the origins of the virus in China which would expose the dubious role that it played in concealing information that could have saved thousands of lives worldwide. With the US blaming both China and the WHO for not disclosing the true facts about the dreaded virus, China is keen to replace Washington in playing a bigger role at the international organisation.