US in talks with allies to counter China’s vaccine diplomacy

The United States, India, Australia and Japan are in talks to provide coronavirus vaccines to Asian nations in an effort to battle both COVID-19 and a Chinese push to extend its global influence through vaccine diplomacy.

The discussions come as wealthy nations build stockpiles of the vaccine while low- and middle-income countries struggle to obtain shipments of their own. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with counterparts from the three other nations on Feb. 18, a State Department spokesperson said in an email Thursday.

“We are deeply focused on the issue of expanding global vaccination, manufacturing, and delivery, which will all be critical to end the pandemic. These are issues the United States is regularly discussing with allies and partners to encourage additional action and find areas of collaboration,” the spokesperson said.

The talks were first reported by the Financial Times on Wednesday.

China is shipping millions of doses of vaccines its scientists have developed to nations in Asia, Africa and Latin America, part of a concerted campaign to leverage soft power to win influence around the globe.