China's leading role in battling Covid-19 has only begun – showing the way ahead will be China's most significant contribution to our post-pandemic world

Author: TOLEDO, Demetrio

TOLEDO Demetrio is professor of International Relations at the Federal University of ABC ­ UFABC, São Paulo, Brazil.

 The author was a FDDI Visiting Scholar in the Autumn of 2019.

China's emerging role as a global leader in sanitary security has brought renewed prestige to the country, as the world now turns to it as a model and partner for dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. Affected countries in all continents have benefited from sanitary expertise and industrial, scientific, and technological inputs from China: medical protocols, pharmaceutical products, medical supplies and equipment.

Some analysts are portraying China’s actions as a charm offensive: a public diplomacy initiative aimed at seducing foreign governments to the benefits of building closer ties to one's country. Charm offensives are the active promotion of interests through soft power, a regular, everyday undertaking in foreign policy – and a legitimate one, for that matter, that implies a country actively trying to improve its image in the international stage.

But a disposition to collaborate is not a charm offensive. Nations throughout the world are reaching out to China to learn how it has dealt with the pandemic and asking for assistance in coping with the global health emergency. China is not deliberately promoting her image; rather, nations around the globe are seeking China's aid as the country has set the paradigm of how to battle Covid-19.

China is currently providing a global public good in the form of sanitary security diplomacy. Dealing with a highly contagious virus is not new for China, though, neither is her leading role in response to a global epidemic. In 2002, China had to face the SARS outbreak. In coordination with affected countries and the World Health Organization, China developed critical experience on how to fight a fast-spreading epidemic. Western specialists in global public health and international organizations recognize China’s know-how in this regard.

In the current geopolitical climate, though, some pundits in mainstream Western media are turning a blind eye to China’s prior expertise with the 2002-04 SARS outbreak, and its present-day role in leading the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, they are approaching a global health emergency as an opportunity to downplay China’s sanitary security diplomacy as nothing more than a “charm offensive.” Meanwhile, some nations are withdrawing support for the WHO because of the organization's close coordination with China in responding to the Covid-19 global health emergency.

Critiques aimed at China’s sanitary security diplomacy in Western media should not distract us from the fact that developing countries should look to China for guidance and provision of resources to fight Covid-19. This diplomacy stands in stark contrast to the sanitary piracy incurred by some powerful nations, that have intercepted medical equipment shipments addressed to developing countries. Not only do developing countries have to fight the Covid-19 pandemic with their often scarce resources; they also need to deploy highly complex and risky logistics procedures to avoid having their cargos seized on their way.

Not surprisingly, air cargo routes linking China to South American countries through Africa have proven to be the only safe way of guaranteeing that China’s know-how and supply of medical equipment can reach nations in the region. This fact demonstrates the relevance of China’s sanitary security diplomacy for developing nations. It is also a potent reminder of the urgency of implementing the Belt and Road Initiative, as it will build the logistics infrastructure for countries in the Global South to coordinate their responses to international emergencies without the risk of having their efforts disrupted by others.

China's role as a model of tackling public health emergencies will soon expand since China is a couple of months ahead in the Covid-19 timeline. Just as China has shown the world how to fight off the disease, she will also show how to deal with the post-pandemic scenarios and how to enter the new normal – whatever that means –, as China is a first-comer to this new phase. China is now beginning to experiment and develop policies for the post-Covid-19 period the country is entering. This experience will be a source of knowledge for other nations regarding how to restart economies and societies.

All this will happen in a new, unknown world. But we can be sure that the post-Covid-19 world will put global sanitary security at a very high priority, and China has already taken the lead in this critical issue.

China's answer to the Covid-19 pandemic is already a source of inspiration, despite the usual naysayers in some ideological and geographical quarters. Through her sanitary security diplomacy, China has created a new way of positioning the country in the international arena, leading the world by example and by practicing solidarity in the face of present and future global risks. China’s sanitary security diplomacy is an innovative contribution to a new type of international relations in a multipolar world.China's reputation on the global stage has come a long way, and can only improve in the context of a worldwide sanitary emergency.