'India may yet be more successful as trustworthy global health partner than China'

India may be yet more successful at proving itself a "robust and trustworthy global health partner than China, which was more focused on placing itself as an "alternative" to the West even at the risk of exporting an ineffective vaccine, said Georgia L. Gilholy, editor-in-chief of Foundation for Uyghur Freedom.

In an opinion piece in National Interest, Gilholy said that China, whose global vaccine shipments appear rushed and "desperate bid for legitimacy in the wake of their failure to stop the global spread of Covid-19".

Asserting that the utmost concern for China's vaccine strategy is the poor quality of its Sinopharm vaccine, Gilholy said Beijing continued refusal to release stage three trial data--is hardly shocking given the internal issues that have long plagued China's pharmaceutical industry.

Just between 2018 and 2020, there were fifty-nine corruption lawsuits involving Chinese vaccine compes and fifty-four involving the bribing of local officials, noted Gilholy.

"A recent New York Times report revealed that Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products, one of China's largest vaccine makers, is currently muddled in a bribery scandal after their vaccines were approved and rolled out for commercial use suspiciously quickly," she said.

"China's role in the vaccine race has been motivated by its desire to provide an "alternative" to Western cooperation, even at the risk of exporting an ineffective vaccine, India's success is a joint venture with its Western and Pacific allies," she added.

Gilholy pointed out that there are also growing reports from Chinese social media that local businesses, universities, and government departments are taking part in forced vaccination programs, "even for pregnant women--contrary to national guidelines that claim all vaccines are voluntary--which is likely behind the rise in uptake shown by recent data".

"India, therefore, may yet be more successful at proving itself a robust and trustworthy global health partner than China has been at placing itself as an alternative to the West," she added.

"Moreover, its [Indian] administration's relative openness, and its general willingness to cooperate with the transparency and rigor of "Western" medicine, makes it a much more attractive long-term partner than China, whose global vaccine shipments appear a rushed and desperate bid for legitimacy in the wake of their failure to stop the global spread of Covid-19, and come with many more unpleasant strings attached.

( With inputs from ANI )