Chinese covid diplomacy in Africa: Interrogating Zimbabwe’s experience

Abstract

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic has not only become a humanitarian issue but a geopolitical and geostrategic one as well. Informed by a soft power perspective and utilising a mainly qualitative-narrative analysis approach, this paper analyses China’s medical assistance to African states in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Zimbabwe is used as a case study. The study establishes that China’s medical assistance to African countries did not start in the COVID-19 era. It is a historical relationship that has evolved over the years. Chinese vaccine diplomacy in the COVID-19 era has positively assisted a number of African states to kick start and sustain their vaccination campaigns. However, through this assistance China has also intentionally or unintentionally managed to keep its African allies happy while at the same time sending signals to its geopolitical competitors (especially the USA) that Africa is its sphere of influence. Further, although judged less effective than western produced vaccines, Chinese COVID-19 vaccines (especially SinoVac and SinoPharm) and other forms of assistance have been used as a tool for global influence. It is, thus, concluded that China’s projection of soft power in the form of medical assistance towards African countries in the COVID era is both a way of oiling its public diplomacy as well as playing the role of a responsible international power by providing international public goods.

Keywords

• Africa
• China
• Zimbabwe
• COVID-19
• diplomacy