Western vaccine bias ridiculous: China Daily editorial

There is a deep-rooted bias in the West, which propels some politicians there to look at everything Chinese through the prism of ideology.

It is through such a prism that many things that have nothing to do with politics have been politicized. Vaccines from China being a case in point. The safety and effectiveness of the vaccines China has developed have been continually called into question by some Western countries. And China's promise to deliver its vaccines as a global public good has been misrepresented as vaccine diplomacy.

Of course, if China kept the vaccines it has developed for its own use, they would have accused China of being selfish, instead of claiming that it is promoting its influence through the provision of vaccines. Viewed through the prism of the West's bias, China can do nothing right.

The politicization of what should not be politicized does everyone a disservice. It is the politicization of what China did when the novel coronavirus outbreak was first detected in Wuhan, Hubei province, that enabled the virus to catch them unawares. It is their ideological bias that has sabotaged the global solidarity the world needs to control the pandemic.

Some Western politicians and media have been doing the same on the issue of vaccines.

That Minister President of Germany's southern state of Bavaria Markus Soeder on Sunday called on European authorities to consider using Chinese and Russian vaccines to ease the current delivery shortage points to the political nature of the questioning of Chinese vaccines.

It is only because of the insufficient supply of vaccines developed by Western countries that some Western politicians are now willing to admit Chinese-made vaccines are safe and effective. But they would not have done so if they could source vaccines from elsewhere.

No matter what they say, China continues to do what it believes is right. A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said on Monday that China will continue to provide COVID-19 vaccines to other countries, especially developing ones, in a timely manner within its capacity and contribute to the building of a global community of health for all.

China has donated vaccines to Pakistan, and is now providing vaccine aid to some developing countries. Another 38 developing countries are slated to receive vaccine aid from China. Serbia is the first European country to have received vaccines from China, and Hungary, the first European Union member to have approved the use of vaccines from China.

Some Western countries that are quarreling about the distribution of vaccines among themselves are not in the position to point an accusing finger at China. They should, instead, look at the reality of the pandemic and discard their ideological bias in favor of the real global solidarity that the world needs for the pandemic fight.