Coronavirus diplomacy: Chinese medical assistance and its diplomatic implications

Abstract

The pandemic of COVID-19 struck the world in early 2020. China, which is regarded as the source of the new disease was also the first one to overcome it. After controlling the outbreak domestically, China started conducting public diplomacy offensive, which we will call ‘coronavirus diplomacy.’ Its main focus is put on assisting other countries that are still struggling with high numbers of infections and many difficulties, such as shortages in medical equipment or medical staff. This article aims to review public diplomacy activities undertaken by China in conjunction with the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2020. The goal is to determine what messages the Chinese government has been sending through those activities. The investigation was qualitative and the main research method employed is content analysis. The authors analyzed statements of China’s representatives in search of the messages that were supposed to be communicated.

COVID-19 Vaccine Donations—Vaccine Empathy or Vaccine Diplomacy? A Narrative Literature Review

“…However, vaccine donations, regardless of whether they are a result of vaccine empathy or vaccine diplomacy, could have a positive impact on the ever-increasingly widening vaccine inequality. Interestingly, the results of our narrative review suggest that, different from the makeup of news reports or other insights in mass media [35][36][37], the majority of scholarly articles on vaccine diplomacy published amid the pandemic supported the practice [18,19,[25][26][27][28][29][31][32][33] with only two [22,30] of the twelve records expressing concerns about potential domestic backlash for donating vaccines. Our findings suggest that what WHO officials indicated on 11 May 2021, when they state that "vaccine diplomacy is not cooperation" and only "clear and clean cooperation" could yield benefits to pandemic prevention and control [42], might be in direct contrast to most academics' positions on vaccine diplomacy [18,19,[25][26][27][28][29][31][32][33].…”

“…Interestingly, the results of our narrative review suggest that, different from the makeup of news reports or other insights in mass media [35][36][37], the majority of scholarly articles on vaccine diplomacy published amid the pandemic supported the practice [18,19,[25][26][27][28][29][31][32][33] with only two [22,30] of the twelve records expressing concerns about potential domestic backlash for donating vaccines. Our findings suggest that what WHO officials indicated on 11 May 2021, when they state that "vaccine diplomacy is not cooperation" and only "clear and clean cooperation" could yield benefits to pandemic prevention and control [42], might be in direct contrast to most academics' positions on vaccine diplomacy [18,19,[25][26][27][28][29][31][32][33]. While some criticisms towards vaccine diplomacy seem to be not completely unfounded, as the scale and severity of COVID-19 might make any potential future expected gains associated with these donations seem uncaring, possibly bordering on unsympathetic [19], the significance of the potential sustainability of vaccine diplomacy, which has deeper and stronger roots in multilateral cooperation and collaboration compared with vaccine empathy, along with how this sustainability might impact COVID-19 vaccine donations in the long run, should not be overlooked.…”

“…The lack of vaccine donors might be further exacerbated by the toxic narratives that surround these vaccine donations, as countries that made the most COVID-19 donations are often referred to as "vaccine diplomats", undermining the humanitarian significance of sharing possibly the most precious and life-saving properties amid the pandemic-COVID-19 vaccines. In other words, rather than seeing vaccine donations as a display of vaccine empathy, by fixating on the possible reciprocal favors that vaccine donors may or may not receive in the future, many scholars frame these donations as purely a transaction in the scheme of vaccine diplomacy [19][20][21][22]. Yet interestingly, while discussions on vaccine diplomacy are on the rise, there is a shortage of insights on vaccine diplomacy and how it might similar to or differ from vaccine empathy.…”

Humanitarian diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific: Part I

“…Hence, diplomatic activities by states in relation to humanitarian affairs are sometimes viewed with suspicion. The debates over the COVID-19 diplomacy by countries such as China are reflective of the tension between humanitarianism and national interest (Kobierecka and Kobierecki, 2021;Ryan, 2021). This gives rise to the question over whether a state conducts diplomacy in a humanitarian spirit or uses humanitarianism as a tool to promote national interests (O'Hagan, 2016: 663-667).…”

Post-covid China: ‘vaccine diplomacy’ and the new developments of Chinese foreign policy

“…In such circumstances, China had to conduct its foreign policy with great care and forge the negatives into positives. Therefore, preceded by donations of medical protective equipment (see: Kobierecka and Kobierecki 2021 ), ‘vaccine diplomacy’ should be a new tool in the hands of Beijing.…”