Chinese vaccines “are effective and safe,” Chinese diplomacy replied Friday, the day after statements by French President Emmanuel Macron, criticizing the opacity of serums developed in China and even their potential risks in the face of new variants of the coronavirus.
“The Chinese government attaches great importance to the safety and efficacy of Covid vaccines,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters. “Based on phase 3 clinical trials, it is clear that Chinese vaccines are effective and safe,” he added, arguing that the international community should “unite rather than clash” around vaccines. .
How far is horse diplomacy, this gift given to the Chinese President when Emmanuel Macron wanted to go to China once a year and learn, why not, Mandarin… During an exchange with the American think tank Atlantic Council , the French president estimated Thursday that Beijing had deployed “vaccine diplomacy” with several developing countries, but without providing transparent information on the effectiveness of these products. Europe has let it be known that it is interested in Chinese vaccines on condition that Sinopharm opens the file in full transparency; the French president bluntly criticized the opacity of the Chinese vaccine, adding that “this means that in the medium and long term, it is almost certain that if this vaccine is not appropriate, it will facilitate the emergence of new variants; it is absolutely not going to fix the situation of the countries ”, he warned.
This expression of “vaccine diplomacy”, Beijing has always rejected, believing that it denigrates Chinese contributions to the fight against the coronavirus. The country is however engaged, like Russia, Great Britain or the United States, in the commercial race for the best vaccine. China has spent considerable sums to support the two vaccines of the state laboratory Sinopharm, including Sinovac, the only one validated so far, and that of Cansino, developed in partnership with the army. Sinovac is guaranteed to be exported to Pakistan, Brazil, Morocco, United Arab Emirates. And on Wednesday, the Chinese authorities announced that they would bring 10 million doses to the UN Covax device, which provides vaccines to underprivileged countries, especially in Africa.
So far, China has approved only one of its vaccines, developed by the Sinopharm laboratory. But Beijing had already started last summer to vaccinate, as part of an emergency program, certain populations at risk, in particular caregivers, diplomats and students leaving for abroad.
Original article by : www.leparisien.fr
