Malacañang downplayed fears that China would use its COVID-19 vaccines to put pressure on the Philippines on issues like the South China Sea, even as Manila is counting on deliveries of vaccines from Beijing to ease its pandemic woes.

“I think the possibility of using the vaccine as pressure as far as the Philippines is concerned is almost nil,” said Harry Roque, spokesman of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, known for pivoting the country closer to China.

The spokesman said Filipinos can also count on Duterte’s supposedly solid “personal friendship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping to ensure no such tactics will be employed.

“Ano’ng pressure hong a-apply-in ng Tsina sa atin, ang ating polisiya po ay pagkakaibigan sa lahat at wala tayong kalaban (What pressure will China apply on us when our policy is to be friends to all but enemies to none)? Independent foreign policy,” Roque also said during a press briefing on Monday, December 14.

Despite this rosy narrative, Manila has locked horns with Beijing many times in the past over the latter’s illegal claim to the entire South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea which lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies-Yusof Ishak Institute, a leading research center on Southeast Asia issues, published a paper this month warning that China’s vaccine diplomacy likely comes with strings attached.

“Beijing may use its vaccine donations to advance its regional agenda, particularly on sensitive issues such as its claims in the South China Sea,” it said.

Roque, meanwhile, said the prospect of a final agreement with Chinese firm Sinovac on a supply of its vaccines for the Philippines is a “very good Christmas gift” to Filipinos.

He also said he has “never heard” of the Yusof Ishak Institute.

Winning hearts and minds

Philippine Ambassador to China Chito Sta Romana said China has not brought up its vaccines in talks about the South China Sea or other geopolitical issues with the Philippines.

Doing so would go against Beijing’s more probable motive for its vaccine diplomacy: creating an international reputation of China as a “friendly” and “benign” regional power.

“In reality, I think it’s part of their campaign to improve China’s standing in the world and to win the hearts and minds of people,” said Sta Romana.

He cited the low trust Filipinos have in China as compared with their trust in Philippine allies like the United States and Japan.

“The point of this vaccine diplomacy is, on the one hand, their pledge to make it a public good, to make it available particularly to their close friends, countries that are friendly to them, neighboring countries,” said the diplomat.

“Whether they’ll make it as a condition in geopolitics, that has not come up in our discussion and I think the Chinese are very clear when it comes to the Philippines, we put it on separate tracks,” he added.

Any attempt to use COVID-19 vaccines to change Philippine foreign policy “will certainly not work” under the Duterte administration, said Sta Romana.

High hopes for China vaccine

In Roque’s Monday press briefing, Philippine vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr said the Duterte government is counting on a Chinese vaccine to be the first to arrive in the Philippines, ideally in March 2021.

He was referring to CoronaVac, the COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Sinovac, which is the vaccine in the most advanced stages of negotiation with Philippine officials.

The vaccine czar hopes to finalize the agreement with Sinovac this week.

Galvez said he has asked for 25 million doses of CoronaVac to arrive in March, which if this happens, would make the Chinese vaccine the first to arrive in the Philippines.

The 2.6 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines purchased by Philippine private companies are slated to arrive a few months later, around May to July 2021.

Apart from Sinovac, the government is also in talks with Chinese firms Sinopharm and CanSino Biologics.

The Philippines has the second highest tally of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia – almost 450,000 cases, compared to list-topper Indonesia’s 618,000 cases.

Though Sinovac has not released data on its Phase 3 clinical trials, its vaccine was given emergency use authorization in China. Galvez said Sinovac representatives told him they’ve reserved a “huge volume” for Southeast Asian countries.

Indonesia received its first shipment of Sinovac vaccines last December 6. – Rappler.com