Follow CAP on Social Media

Listen to the CAP Podcast

Vaccines and the Changing International Order

by Eric Olander
A worker is seen next to a container with dosees of the CoronaVac vaccine against COVID-19 unloaded from a cargo plane that arrived from China at Guarulhos International Airport in Guarulhos, Sao Paulo state, Brazil. NELSON ALMEIDA / AFP

The Chief Reporter for Germany’s state broadcaster Deutsche Welle, Miodrag Soric, can’t believe what he’s seeing. China is turning the battle for access to COVID-19 vaccines into a tremendous soft power win in the Global South — and they’re doing it at the expense of the West!

“The fact that the West is sitting around and allowing this to happen is an error that can and must be criticized,’ he wrote in a blistering column published over the weekend on the DW website. 

  • Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis.
  • Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations.
  • Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South.

China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening.

Subscribe today for unlimited access.

OR

Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More

You Might Like

Why Does China Want to Cooperate With Europe in Africa?

What’s in a phone call? Well, when it’s from China’s leader to the presidents of Germany and France then maybe it’s something beyond idle chit-chat. And, when it comes on the heels of the G7 ...

Josep Borrell’s Misguided Views on Chinese Vaccines in Africa

European Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell is really unhappy with how the bloc’s member states have hoarded vaccines for themselves at the expense of developing countries in Africa and Latin America. On ...

China’s COVID-19 Vaccine Tussles

If Xi Jinping thought back in May when he promised to make Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines available to developing countries as a “public good” that it would be an easy soft power win, well, he may ...

What is The China-Africa Project?

Independent

The CAP is passionately independent, non-partisan and does not advocate for any country, company or culture.

News

A carefully curated selection of the day’s most important China-Africa stories. Updated 24 hours a day by human editors. No bots, no algorithms.

Analysis

Diverse, often unconventional insights from scholars, analysts, journalist and a variety of stakeholders in the China-Africa discourse.

Networking

A unique professional network of China-Africa scholars, analysts, journalists and other practioners from around the world.

Subscribe