China Promises To Prioritize Corona Vaccines For ASEAN

A booth displaying the China National Biotec Group's coronavirus vaccine candidates (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The Chinese government is working according to its ability to give priority to ASEAN countries in the development of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The virus knows no national borders. And if all countries are free from the pandemic, then the global fight against COVID-19 will be the final victory, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Saturday, responding to further questions about his commitment.

Last week, Wang met Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Pandjaitan, special envoy from President Joko Widodo, and Philippine Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin in Yunnan Province.

Then Wang made a working visit to Cambodia, Malaysia, Laos, Thailand, and ended in Singapore on Friday.

Vaccines are the ultimate weapon against the pandemic, said Wang, who is also a member of the Governing Council.

"We cannot fight alone, we cannot monopolize all resources," he said as quoted by Antara , Saturday, inviting all countries to work together.

According to him, China had tracked the genetics of the virus with the World Health Organization (WHO) in a timely manner in the early stages of the outbreak for global vaccine development.

China is committed to making vaccines a global public product once it has been successfully developed and used and will contribute to the accessibility and affordability of vaccines in developing countries, Wang was quoted as saying by local official media.