05/05/2021
𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝗶𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀’ 𝗣𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸:
𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙖 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙍𝙪𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙖 𝙙𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙫𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙘𝙮, 𝙧𝙚𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙀𝙐-𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙒𝙃𝙊 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣
(dql) According to a report of the Economist Intelligence Unit, the research and analysis division of London-based media company Economist Group, the West is losing the COVID-19 vaccine diplomacy battle in key developing regions of the world to Russia and China and will suffer long-term strategic consequences.
For China, the report concludes that the Chinese government has been able to keep new daily cases under 200 since April 2020, allowing China to pursue domestic and overseas vaccination drives in parallel, with so far 115m doses worth 1.8 billion USD administered on each track. The EU, the US and the UK, meanwhile, have so far mostly been absent from the vaccine diplomacy scene, due intense political pressure in these countries to vaccinate their own population first.
Against this background, the report concludes: “Overall, the vaccine diplomacy efforts of Western states are likely to begin too late to catch up with those of Russia and China, which are so far winning the public relations battle,” and warns that “damage to the reputation of Western countries has already been done and will be hard to repair.”
This will, in further consequence, boost the global standing and leverage of Beijing and Moscow in emerging countries in the near future, helping both to gain influence and pursue their interests around the world. [9 News] [EIU]
For a similarly critical assessment of the EU’s performance in vaccine diplomacy with focus on the Balkans, see Michael Leigh in [Bruegel] who argues that “EU should reinforce its position in the region with more inclusive policies, clearer signaling and robust measures to counter disinformation."
The European Union, meanwhile, has accused China and Russia of systematically seeking to sow mistrust in Western COVID-19 vaccines in their latest disinformation campaigns over the past months, with the intention to divide the West. In a latest special report, released last week, the European External Action Service, the EU’s diplomatic service and combined Foreign and Defence Ministry, concludes that Chinese and Russian vaccine diplomacy comes along with “disinformation and manipulation efforts to undermine trust in Western-made vaccines, EU institutions and Western/European vaccination strategies,” with state-controlled media outlets, channels and social media being used to achieve these goals. [EU vs Disinfo] [Reuters]
Furthermore, China and Russia are reportedly joining hands in pushing back an EU-led resolution which calls for increased cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) during public health crises and for which both countries are demanding changes to the text of the resolution. Among those is the inclusion of the formulation "in accordance with national and international laws and regulations" to a paragraph in the resolution on sharing samples and genetic sequences of pathogens with pandemic potential. In another paragraph referring to member countries strengthening their public health surveillance, China and Russia (and Syria) seek to replace a reference to “investigation” of public health events with “assessment.” [Politico]
The move comes as China continues to face accusations of withholding data from the WHO’s investigation into the origins of the pandemic.
𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:
9 News: https://www.9news.com.au/national/coronavirus-diplomacy-us-europe-and-west-losing-battle-influence-to-china-and-russia/e6985095-4527-4956-9062-69fbe22040e7
EIU: https://www.eiu.com/n/western-powers-have-lost-the-vaccine-diplomacy-battle/
Bruegel: https://www.bruegel.org/2021/04/vaccine-diplomacy-soft-power-lessons-from-china-and-russia/
EU vs Disinfo:https://euvsdisinfo.eu/uploads/2021/04/EEAS-Special-Report-Covid-19-vaccine-related-disinformation-6.pdf
Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/russia-china-sow-disinformation-undermine-trust-western-vaccines-eu-report-says-2021-04-28/
Politico: https://www.politico.eu/article/china-russia-resist-increased-scrutiny-of-pandemic-response/
𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝗶𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀’ 𝗣𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸:
𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙖 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙍𝙪𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙖 𝙙𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙫𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙘𝙮, 𝙧𝙚𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙀𝙐-𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙒𝙃𝙊 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣
(dql) According to a report of the Economist Intelligence Unit, the research and analysis division of London-based media company Economist Group, the West is losing the COVID-19 vaccine diplomacy battle in key developing regions of the world to Russia and China and will suffer long-term strategic consequences.
For China, the report concludes that the Chinese government has been able to keep new daily cases under 200 since April 2020, allowing China to pursue domestic and overseas vaccination drives in parallel, with so far 115m doses worth 1.8 billion USD administered on each track. The EU, the US and the UK, meanwhile, have so far mostly been absent from the vaccine diplomacy scene, due intense political pressure in these countries to vaccinate their own population first.
Against this background, the report concludes: “Overall, the vaccine diplomacy efforts of Western states are likely to begin too late to catch up with those of Russia and China, which are so far winning the public relations battle,” and warns that “damage to the reputation of Western countries has already been done and will be hard to repair.”
This will, in further consequence, boost the global standing and leverage of Beijing and Moscow in emerging countries in the near future, helping both to gain influence and pursue their interests around the world. [9 News] [EIU]
For a similarly critical assessment of the EU’s performance in vaccine diplomacy with focus on the Balkans, see Michael Leigh in [Bruegel] who argues that “EU should reinforce its position in the region with more inclusive policies, clearer signaling and robust measures to counter disinformation."
The European Union, meanwhile, has accused China and Russia of systematically seeking to sow mistrust in Western COVID-19 vaccines in their latest disinformation campaigns over the past months, with the intention to divide the West. In a latest special report, released last week, the European External Action Service, the EU’s diplomatic service and combined Foreign and Defence Ministry, concludes that Chinese and Russian vaccine diplomacy comes along with “disinformation and manipulation efforts to undermine trust in Western-made vaccines, EU institutions and Western/European vaccination strategies,” with state-controlled media outlets, channels and social media being used to achieve these goals. [EU vs Disinfo] [Reuters]
Furthermore, China and Russia are reportedly joining hands in pushing back an EU-led resolution which calls for increased cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) during public health crises and for which both countries are demanding changes to the text of the resolution. Among those is the inclusion of the formulation "in accordance with national and international laws and regulations" to a paragraph in the resolution on sharing samples and genetic sequences of pathogens with pandemic potential. In another paragraph referring to member countries strengthening their public health surveillance, China and Russia (and Syria) seek to replace a reference to “investigation” of public health events with “assessment.” [Politico]
The move comes as China continues to face accusations of withholding data from the WHO’s investigation into the origins of the pandemic.
𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:
9 News: https://www.9news.com.au/national/coronavirus-diplomacy-us-europe-and-west-losing-battle-influence-to-china-and-russia/e6985095-4527-4956-9062-69fbe22040e7
EIU: https://www.eiu.com/n/western-powers-have-lost-the-vaccine-diplomacy-battle/
Bruegel: https://www.bruegel.org/2021/04/vaccine-diplomacy-soft-power-lessons-from-china-and-russia/
EU vs Disinfo:https://euvsdisinfo.eu/uploads/2021/04/EEAS-Special-Report-Covid-19-vaccine-related-disinformation-6.pdf
Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/russia-china-sow-disinformation-undermine-trust-western-vaccines-eu-report-says-2021-04-28/
Politico: https://www.politico.eu/article/china-russia-resist-increased-scrutiny-of-pandemic-response/
