Sam Olsen

Opinion | As the US retreats in a coronavirus-ravaged world, China is increasing its influence on the world stage

In recent years, the US has been withdrawing from the international system, while China has been taking on a greater role. Covid-19 has heightened this trend, with China’s pledges of assistance standing in stark contrast to American isolationism

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Sam Olsen

Published: 5:45am, 29 Oct 2020Updated: 5:59am, 29 Oct 2020

Chinese President Xi Jinping announced to a virtual gathering of the World Health Assembly in May that his country was working hard on a vaccine for the Covid-19 pandemic. Once it was ready, he declared, the vaccine would be “made a global public good”.

He looks to be keeping his word. Beijing has now publicly pledged that an effective coronavirus vaccine will be available by the end of 2020; it has also committed to providing the vaccine first to more than a dozen countries, particularly emerging nations that it has close ties with, including Brazil and Indonesia.

This is just the latest in a series of actions that China has taken to position itself at the forefront of the worldwide response to the virus, and which stands in contrast to the United States’ isolationist stance.

Early on in the pandemic, China made much of its ability to send millions of pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) out to the world. Although this was seen by many countries in the West as a way to deflect attention from its early mishandling of the virus, and amid criticism that some of the equipment was faulty, China’s “mask diplomacy” was welcomed by many struggling to deal with the disease.

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When the first plane loads of protective gear from China arrived in Belgrade, accompanied by Chinese medical professionals, Serbian President Alexander Vucic publicly kissed the Chinese flag in gratitude.