The hottest commodity on the planet right now is the COVID-19 vaccine.
As wealthy countries such as the United States, Canada, and European nations stockpile doses — according to some estimates, enough to vaccinate their entire populations multiple times over — that leaves less wealthy countries wondering where to turn.
That’s where China has stepped in, offering priority access to Chinese-developed vaccines to countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
The effort could end up being a “soft power” diplomacy tool for China, says Yangzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations and director of global health studies at Seton Hall University’s School of Diplomacy and International Relations.
