Vietnam donates over 1 million masks to Europe and Southeast Asia, challenging China’s monopoly on coronavirus diplomacy
- The country’s moves come as it eyes an economic revival amid the pandemic, with up to 12 million masks to be produced a day
- Vietnam could also be pushing the quality of its medical supplies in light of mounting returns to China of faulty equipment, analysts say
China is looking to burnish its credentials as a responsible power by sharing expertise and donating masks and other protective equipment to countries seeing a surge in cases and to repair an image dented by the disease that originated there late last year.
It has also capitalised on the US government’s purchase of 450,000 made-in-Vietnam DuPont hazmat suits by expediting the shipment of the protective equipment, and using it to highlight its medical donations in public statements and state media.
Trump thanked “our friends in Vietnam” on Thursday for that shipment.
Helped by a mass quarantine and aggressive contact-tracing, Vietnam’s health ministry has recorded 255 cases of the novel coronavirus and no deaths.
Vu Duc Dam, a deputy prime minister who has been widely praised for his role in leading the campaign against the coronavirus, said on Monday the outbreak was under control.
The next day, state media showed photos of European ambassadors receiving boxes of masks from Vietnam’s foreign ministry in a ceremony showcasing the donation.
“Vietnam appears to have gained in confidence by managing to deal successfully with the coronavirus,” said Carl Thayer, an expert in Vietnam’s diplomacy at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra.
“While Vietnam is bracing itself against a second wave of the virus, it is also beginning to look ahead to a revival of economic activity,” Thayer said.
Key to spurring that activity will be a much-anticipated EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), said Thayer, which Vietnam’s rubber stamp National Assembly will ratify later this month.
There are now 40 firms producing 7 million fabric masks a day in Vietnam, the government said on Thursday. An additional 5.72 million surgical masks can be produced daily, it said.
Vietnam is not the only country keen to show that it is able to offer its support to the world, however.
Taiwan offers masks and medical aid to foreign countries, angering Beijing
“We’ve been getting requests from many countries for us to share our know-how,” said a South Korean foreign ministry official.
Even though Vietnam needs similar equipment in its own efforts against the virus, it has made donations to neighbours with large Vietnamese communities “on the basis of traditional friendship and relations”, said foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang.
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Vietnam could also be pushing the quality of its medical supplies in light of mounting returns to China of faulty equipment, said Thayer.
Vietnam’s biggest listed firm, Vingroup, said last week it would start producing up to 55,000 ventilators a month, including for foreign markets.
“Vietnam cannot hope to match China in the volume and dollar value of its aid, but Vietnam can provide assistance where it counts,” said Thayer.