Why China’s vaccine diplomacy shouldn’t be a high-profile charm offensive
- China’s lacklustre soft power rankings and the fact that Covid-19 vaccines are a new frontier in public health mean it should dish them out quietly
- Surely Beijing has not forgotten the backlash earlier this year when defective Chinese-made medical equipment was rejected by coronavirus-hit countries
In a recent commentary for Bloomberg, Hal Brands, the Henry Kissinger Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, pointed to academic work suggesting that the US still has an edge over China, including on soft power – although this does not mean Washington can rest on its laurels.
Monocle, the global affairs and lifestyle magazine, ranked Germany, South Korea, France, Japan and Taiwan in the top five positions in its soft power index in its current edition. China was conspicuously absent.
The London-based publication said even though China’s economic might has helped it in building influence around the world, the country did not make the list as “distrust of its government and concern over the consistent bullying of its neighbours has translated into a very precarious kind of soft power.”
Instead of brandishing this as yet another global charm offensive under the banner of being a “responsible great power”, China should conduct its latest health diplomacy in a low-key manner.
Surely Beijing has not forgotten the backlash earlier this year when defective Chinese-made medical equipment was rejected by coronavirus-hit countries, never mind the fact that the flawed gear was sold by Chinese private companies for profit.
Attempts to provide rapid Covid-19 testing kits were also met with resistance after countries such as the Philippines, Spain, Turkey and the Netherlands claimed that they were substandard and yielded inaccurate results.
In the case of masks and filters, some did not work as intended even though they came with quality certificates.
The public relations disaster generated worldwide by these incidents may also partly explain why China appears unable to boost its soft power ranking this year.
Given that Covid-19 vaccines fall under a new frontier in public health where their effectiveness and possible side effects are still unclear, Beijing should refrain from dishing out the vaccines like it did previously – with smiling diplomats handing over supplies emblazoned with the Chinese flag while extolling the virtues of enduring friendship with these countries.
After all, the politics of generosity – a term coined by EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell earlier this year – could backfire once again, and also further dent Beijing’s efforts in strengthening its soft power.