Despite the issues China is encountering with Covid-19, Chinese President Xi Jinping is refusing to adopt Western vaccinations, and recent demonstrations in China may have an impact on his personal standing. Avril Haines, the Director of National Intelligence for the United States, stated on Saturday (Dec 3).
Despite the fact that daily Covid-19 cases in China are near all-time highs, some cities are taking steps to relax testing and quarantine policies after Xi’s zero-Covid-19 policy triggered a sharp economic slowdown and public unrest.
Despite the virus’s social and economic impact, Haines said at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in California that Xi “is unwilling to take a better vaccine from the West, and is instead relying on a vaccine in China that’s just not nearly as effective against Omicron.”
“Seeing protests and the response to them is contradicting the narrative that he loves to promote, which is that China is so much more successful at governing,” Haines said.
“It’s not something we see as a threat to stability, or regime change, or anything like that right now,” she said, adding, “How it develops will be important to Xi’s standing.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not react quickly to a request for comment issued on Sunday.
China has not licensed any international Covid-19 vaccinations, instead opting for domestically made vaccines that, according to certain research, are not as effective as some foreign ones. According to specialists, relaxing virus preventive methods might pose significant hazards.
The White House earlier this week stated that China has not requested immunizations from the United States.
According to one US official, there is “no expectation at this time” that China will approve Western vaccines.
“At this moment, it is unlikely that China will approve Western vaccinations. It’s an issue of national pride, and if they chose this road, they’d have to swallow a lot of it “According to the official.
Haines also stated that North Korea recognized that China was less likely to hold Pyongyang accountable for its “extraordinary” number of weapons tests this year.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stated last week that his country intends to have the world’s most powerful nuclear force, despite a record year for missile tests.
On a subsequent panel, Admiral John Aquilino, head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, stated that China had no incentive to control any country, including North Korea, that was causing issues for the US.
“I’d say that it’s in their goal to cause such issues,” Aquilino said of China.
He said China had significant leverage to pressure North Korea over its nuclear tests, but he was skeptical of Beijing “doing anything helpful to stabilize the region.”