A health worker administers a 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 about the science behind its coronavirus vaccines.
It’s not clear whether Chinese vaccine developers are adopting common standards, as details about their vaccinations are less available than Western drug makers, Macron said Thursday during an online panel discussion to mark the opening of The Atlantic Council’s Europe Center.
Emmanuel Macron in Paris, on February 4.
Photographer: Ludovic Marin / AFP / Getty Images
“I have absolutely no information,” said Macron. “It looks like we can have more information about the Russian vaccines,” he said, citing a study published in The Lancet and Russian initiatives to register its Sputnik V vaccination with the European Medicines Agency.
China has sought to expand its geopolitical influence through vaccine diplomacy. It added another vaccination to its arsenal this month when late-stage trials in Brazil indicated that the Sinovac Biotech Ltd. vaccine offers significant protection against Covid-19. But a lack of timely and clear disclosures by Chinese developers has contributed to the caution of their recordings.
It’s a “clear diplomatic success,” said Macron, describing China’s efficiency in producing and exporting doses worldwide as “a little humbling to us.”
With the EU lagging behind the US and UK in administering the shots, Macron defends the European Union’s approach of jointly buying vaccines to avoid a race between member states. He is also putting pressure on drug manufacturers to step up their efforts to produce the life-saving vaccines in France.
“Systemic rival”
An official in Macron’s office, who asked not to be named in accordance with the protocol, said this week that French President and Chancellor Angela Merkel was on a line to welcome all vaccinations that meet EU standards. and that geopolitics is irrelevant. The comment came in response to a question whether Macron would consider purchasing the Sputnik V vaccine, which Merkel said she is willing to consider using in Germany.
During Thursday’s discussion, Macron described a recent EU-China agreement on investment as “not exactly a huge deal,” and said there was no focus on intellectual property issues. The deal was seen as the last sign that after four tense years with Donald Trump in the White House, Europeans wanted to diversify alliances – and one that could make it difficult for the US and the EU to agree on a common strategy in the United States. dealings with China. .
By downplaying those concerns, Macron emphasized the common history and values that bind Europe and the US, which he said unlike China is not a “systemic rival”.
Macron was the first EU country leader to speak to Joe Biden after his inauguration in January. He said he welcomed the president’s pledge to work closely with traditional allies and return to the international forums Trump has left, such as the Paris Climate Pact and the World Health Organization.
But while Macron has sought a return to multilateralism, he clearly does not expect a complete transformation of the relationship between the EU and the US. Decisions made in Washington are driven by national interest, Macron said, which “could not be exactly the same as the European one.”
The French leader reiterated his call for reform of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, particularly in light of Turkey’s intervention in Syria, saying that NATO forces must maintain interoperability.
Macron is expected to lead the way on the continent and in the transatlantic relationship when Merkel leaves after Germany holds elections in September and France takes over the rotating EU presidency in 2022. A series of challenges includes an airplane dispute with the US that has led the two sides to pay $ 11.5 billion of each other’s exports with tariffs.
The French leader praised American technology companies such as Facebook Inc and Twitter to remove terrorist content within an hour at the request of the authorities. But he also criticized them for censoring Trump after a mob stormed the Capitol, saying, “The moment they were sure he was out of power, they suddenly cut the microphone.”
(Updates with comments from the seventh paragraph.)