News Snapshot:
In May last year, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared that his country would soon provide safe and effective vaccines as a “global public good”, especially to the developing world. To this end, the Chinese leader launched a massive state-backed campaign, allocating large amounts of subsidies and corralling up to 22 firms and research institutes to work on as many as 17 vaccine projects. Some leaders in China’s immediate neighbourhood felt reassured by Xi’s rhetoric and hoped to capitalise on good relations with Beijing to acquire vaccines early on. In July, the Philippines’ President...
