On Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged China to share information about its Covid outbreak, citing the global impact of China’s rising caseload, and he reiterated his offer to supply US vaccines.
“It is really vital for all countries, including China, to focus on people getting vaccinated, making testing and treatment available, and, most importantly, sharing information about what they’re experiencing with the rest of the globe,” Blinken said at a news conference. “It has worldwide ramifications, not only for China. Therefore, we would like to see that occur, “Blinken said.
As per NDTV, Blinken stated that China, a common US opponent, has not requested assistance. Beijing has advocated the export of domestic vaccines deemed by foreign health experts to be less effective than those produced in the United States.
Blinken stated, “We are totally willing to provide support to anyone who requests it if they deem it useful.” Blinken, who hopes to visit Beijing in early 2023 as tensions between the United States and China ease, stated that the United States had both a humanitarian and self-interested stake in containing China’s Covid outbreak.
“Whenever the virus is expanding or moving, there is a chance that a new version may form, that variant will go even farther, and it will come to us or other countries,” Blinken explained.
“And then, as we’ve seen, there are clear ramifications for the global economy,” he said of China’s Covid policies, the second largest economy in the world after the United States.
China, where Covid-19 was discovered for the first time three years ago, has proclaimed a zero-cases policy that included strict lockdowns. However, it dramatically changed course earlier this month in response to rare demonstrations.
According to AFP and other news sources, many elderly Chinese have never been vaccinated, and crematoriums in some regions of China are at capacity.
