Opinion | For China’s coronavirus diplomacy to succeed, Beijing must dial up generosity and downplay ideology

Sometimes the world needs a crisis to turn challenges into opportunities. The Covid-19 pandemic indeed presents a geopolitical opportunity for China to step up and fulfil its desire to be seen as a respected global leader by extending swift international assistance in the form of medical equipment and sharing clinical experience. But China’s pandemic diplomacy strategy must proceed carefully, particularly amid the vociferous and growing anti-China rhetoric, led by the United States.

The Chinese government is keen to send a clear message – Beijing has won the battle against the virus in China. It is now seeking to fill the glaring vacuum left by the United States and has sent medical staff and equipment to assist countries around the world tackle the virus, part of a broader soft-power campaign.

A trend has emerged on Chinese social media outlets – a hotbed of ultranationalists – to criticise the pandemic response from other countries as though China’s draconian measures are the one and only way to control the outbreak. This sentiment has become a liability to China’s efforts to improve its international reputation.

Beijing’s initial blunder in responding to this public health crisis is hard to forgive. But its pandemic diplomacy should now focus on humanitarian efforts, rather than a clumsy, self-righteous global political campaign.

Beijing’s pandemic diplomacy should be led by medical staff who have already made tremendous contributions during the outbreak. Chinese epidemiologists published the complete genome sequence of the virus on open platforms in early January and reported the first description of the disease in The Lancet so that others around the world could race to develop a vaccine. The remarkable dedication and professionalism of Chinese doctors and nurses deserve the highest praise, as has been accorded to their peers around the world.