A healthcare professional administers the Covid-19 vaccine at a mass vaccination center in Beijing on Jan. 15.
Photographer: Kevin Frayer / Getty Images
Photographer: Kevin Frayer / Getty Images
French President Emmanuel Macron called on China to be more transparent with the science behind its coronavirus vaccines.
It is unclear whether Chinese vaccine developers are adopting common standards because details about their vaccines are less available than those of Western manufacturers, Macron said on Thursday during an online discussion panel to mark the opening of the European Council Center Atlantic.
Emmanuel Macron in Paris on 4 February.
Photographer: Ludovic Marin / AFP / Getty Images
“I have absolutely no information,” said Macron. “It looks like we can have more information about Russian vaccines,” he said, citing a study published in Lancet and Russia’s initiatives to register its Sputnik V inoculation with the European Medicines Agency.
China has sought to extend its geopolitical influence through vaccine diplomacy. this added another inoculation to its arsenal this month, when final-stage tests in Brazil indicated that its Sinovac Biotech Ltd. vaccine offers significant protection against Covid-19. But the lack of timely and clear disclosures on the part of Chinese developers contributed to the caution of his photos.
It is a “clear diplomatic success,” said Macron, describing China’s efficiency in producing and exporting doses globally as “a little humiliating for us”.
With the EU lagging behind the United States and the United Kingdom in administering vaccines, Macron has championed the European Union’s approach to buying vaccines together to avoid a race between member countries. He also pressured drug manufacturers to step up efforts to produce life-saving vaccines in France.
“Systemic rival”
An official at Macron’s office, who asked not to be identified according to the protocol, said this week that French President and Chancellor Angela Merkel were lined up to receive any inoculation that met EU standards, and that geopolitics plays no role. The comment came in response to a question about whether Macron would consider buying the Sputnik V vaccine, which Merkel said is ready to consider use in Germany.
During the discussion on Thursday, Macron described a recent agreement between the EU and China on investment as “honestly not a big deal”, and said he did not address intellectual property issues. The deal was seen as the latest sign that Europeans wanted to diversify alliances after four tense years with Donald Trump in the White House – and that it could make it difficult for the US and EU to agree on a common strategy to deal with China. .
In minimizing these concerns, Macron highlighted the history and common values that unite Europe and the United States, which he said was not a “systemic rival”, unlike China.
Macron was the first leader of an EU country to speak to Joe Biden after his inauguration in January. He said he welcomed the president’s promise to work closely with traditional allies and return to international forums abandoned by Trump, such as the Paris climate pact and the World Health Organization.
However, although Macron seeks a return to multilateralism, he clearly does not expect a complete transformation in EU-US relations. The decisions made in Washington are driven by national interest, said Macron, who “could not be exactly like the European”.
The French leader reiterated his call for reform of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, particularly in light of Turkey’s intervention in Syria, and said that NATO forces must preserve interoperability.
Macron is expected to take the lead on the continent and in transatlantic relations when Merkel leaves after the German elections in September and France takes over the rotating EU presidency in 2022. A number of challenges include an aircraft dispute with the US that led the two sides to reach $ 11.5 billion in exports from each other with tariffs.
The French leader praised US technology companies, such as Facebook Inc and Twitter for removing terrorist content in an hour when questioned by authorities. But he also criticized them for censoring Trump after a crowd broke into the Capitol, saying “the very second they were sure he was powerless, they suddenly turned off the microphone.”
(Updates with comments from the seventh paragraph.)