05/04/2020
- The philanthropic foundations of Jack Ma and Joe Tsai, two of China’s wealthiest technology entrepreneurs, have donated 23 million face masks, 2,000 ventilators and 170,000 pieces of protective gear to New York
- The donation, the biggest by private citizens to the epicentre of the global coronavirus pandemic, was described by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as ‘really good news’
A shipment of 1,000 ventilators donated by Jack Ma Foundation and Joe Tsai Foundation, has arrived in New York. Photo: Handout
Chinese philanthropists are stepping up their
donation of protective gear, essential medical and diagnostic kits to the United States, Europe and Asian countries, despite rising acrimony between diplomats and government officials looking to pin blame amid the world’s worst pandemic in decades.
The private foundations of Jack Ma and Joe Tsai, co-founders of this newspaper’s owner Alibaba Group Holding and two of China’s wealthiest technology entrepreneurs, have donated a combined 23 million face masks, 2,000 medical ventilators and 170,000 pieces of protective gear to New York city.
The first 1,000 medical ventilators arrived today, with another 1,000 on the way, for a total donation valued at US$50 million, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Delivery of the essential materials, made possible by behind-the-scene manoeuvres by the donors and officials from both the Chinese and US sides due to import and export regulatory hurdles, highlights the role of civil diplomacy in dealing with the global public health crisis.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo thanks the Chinese government for the 1,000 ventilators donated by Jack Ma Foundation and Joe Tsai Foundation, which arrived in New York on Saturday. Photo: Handout
The gesture comes as diplomats of both countries, and even government officials including the US president and his secretary of state, have engaged in a tit-for-tat war of words, as they attempt to pin the blame for the worlds worst pandemic in decades on each other.
Confirmed cases in the US have soared and surpassed China as the new global epicentre. In the US there are nearly 310,000 cases and nearly 8,500 people have died so far from the Covid-19 disease.
Jack Ma is a friend of mine and he’s made it very possible to get about 1,000 ventilators from China. But that was from him and my other friend [Tsai] that was really a gift – Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York
Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, thanked the Chinese government for easing the transfer of the ventilators to the hard-hit state, the current epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in the US.
He said the donations were “really good news”, as the state pushes up against the apex of the outbreak, which is likely to hit in about seven days.
“This is a big deal, and this is going to make a significant difference for us,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday.
“Jack Ma is a friend of mine and he’s made it very possible to get about 1,000 ventilators from China. But that was from him and my other friend [Tsai] that was really a gift. And we appreciate it very much.”
One of the challenges in making the donation possible was the fact that the US had previously blocked China-made “KN95” standard masks, only allowing “3M N95” masks to be used. Although the two masks have different standards, they essentially have the same performance. On Friday, the US Food and Drugs Administration issued an emergency use authorisation for KN95 masks.
Alfred Wu, associate professor in Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at National University of Singapore, said that what China is doing with its so-called masks diplomacy is very clear. “But given the emergency situation in New York, whatever channel – private or public sources – the equipment comes from, should not matter, especially those for medical workers,” he said.
Separately, the western state of Oregon has also said that it would send 140 ventilators to New York.
The state, like other areas of the US, is facing shortages of medical gear, including masks and ventilators.
“We are not yet at the apex. We are getting closer,” Cuomo said, adding that this was good as it gave the authorities more time to prepare.
A tweet from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo thanking the Chinese government for the 1,000 ventilators donated by Jack Ma Foundation and Joe Tsai Foundation. Photo: Twitter
Cuomo said 113,704 people in New York have tested positive for the coronavirus, with 15,000 having been hospitalised The state’s death toll saw a significant spike on Saturday to reach 3,565, up from 2,935 the previous day.
The White House has been criticised for not better coordinating the supply of medical goods to states, who are competing with each other on the open market.
NUS’ Wu said that tussle between the federal and state governments in the US on key decisions on acquiring medical supplies was not helping the fight against the pandemic. “Unlike in China, where the central government has the say over local governments, in the US, when it comes to public health provision, the power belongs to the state,” he said.
Meanwhile, Cuomo acknowledged that he asked the White House and others for help negotiating the ventilators.
Trump said he would like to hear a more resounding “thank you” from Cuomo for providing medical supplies and helping quickly to add hospital capacity.
Source:SCMP
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28/07/2019
- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi wraps up tour of Brazil and Chile, as Colombian president heads for Beijing
- Ecuador president tells US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ‘smaller countries pay when the big ones fight’
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is greeted by an honour guard as he arrives at the Itamaraty Palace for a meeting with his Brazilian counterpart Ernesto Araujo on Thursday. Photo: AP
Latin American countries are caught in the middle of a geopolitical tug of war between Beijing and Washington as China boosts its ties in the region in a bid to counterbalance the effects of its trade war with the US.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi wraps up a tour of Latin America on Sunday which began last week in Brazil and ended with an official visit to Chile. He returns to Beijing on the same day Colombia’s President Ivan Duque Marquez arrives for a three-day state visit to China which will include a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Wang was in Brazil for the latest summit of foreign ministers from the BRICS countries – an association of emerging countries made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – as well as the third China-Brazil foreign ministers’ comprehensive strategic dialogue with Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo.
China has overtaken the US as Brazil’s largest trading partner, with Brazilian soybeans – one of the country’s biggest exports – and other agricultural products replacing American imports since the start of the US-China trade war a year ago.
Brazilian soybeans – one of the country’s biggest exports – and other farm products are being sold to China as a result of the trade war. Photo: Reuters
The growing importance of China to Brazil’s economy has created a difficult position for President Jair Bolsonaro, who accused Beijing of trying to buy Brazil during his election campaign, but changed tack on assuming office in January.
In March, Bolsonaro called China his country’s “main partner, politically as well as economically and commercially” and announced plans to travel to Beijing this year, a visit which was confirmed on Tuesday for late October.
China is now Latin America’s second largest trading partner with bilateral trade at US$307.4 billion, growing 18.9 per cent over the previous year, according to China’s ministry of commerce, in a relationship focused on commodity imports, including mining products like copper and energy, as well as soybeans and other agricultural goods.
While the US and China have tentatively agreed to resume talks in Shanghai next week, China and Latin American countries are likely to continue deepening their trade relations as production chains realign as a result of the trade war, according to Gustavo Oliveira, assistant professor of global and international studies at the University of California, Irvine.
“This means Chinese imports of Latin American agricultural and mineral commodities, and Latin American imports of Chinese manufactured products and hi-tech, might contribute to China’s ability to stand its ground against US pressure,” he said.
China in Latin America: partner or predator?
Oliveira said domestic contradictions in most Latin American countries complicated relations with China, as few leaders had the capacity to press or leverage China for much. “Unfortunately, therefore, most in this crop of Latin American leaders are basically placing themselves as junior partners or pawns in the geopolitical tug of war between the US and China.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo put the pressure on Latin American countries over their relationship with China during his four-day tour of the region last weekend, when he visited Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico, and El Salvador.
In a joint interview with Pompeo during the visit, Ecuador’s new President Lenin Moreno defended the country’s China ties, and urged Washington and Beijing to resolve their conflicts for the benefit of other nations in the region.
“We hope that the US and China, the greatest powers in the world now, will find agreement easily because, unfortunately, when the big ones are discussing or fighting and have conflicts, the ones that are paying for all of that are the smaller countries,” he said.
“Now, when two elephants fight, the ones who lose are the insects who are of course being crushed by the elephants in the attempt to evade them.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (left) and Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno hold a joint press conference during Pompeo’s tour of Latin America on July 20. Photo: EPA-EFE
Pompeo blasted China’s role in the region during a previous tour of South America in April, when he singled out Beijing’s support for President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela. Maduro is backed by Beijing, Russia and other allies, while the US and many European countries have supported opposition leader Juan Guaido as legitimate president since elections in January.
Speaking from Chile on that tour, Pompeo said Beijing’s calls for non-intervention in Venezuela were “hypocritical” and aimed at protecting Beijing’s investments in the country, as well as debts owed to China by Venezuela.
Pompeo also accused Beijing of “sowing discord” in the region through debt traps. “When China does business in places like Latin America, it often injects corrosive capital into the economic bloodstream, giving life to corruption and eroding good governance,” he said.
Professor Cui Shoujun of Renmin University in Beijing said Washington’s concerns about “debt trap diplomacy” in Latin America reflected concerns that China’s growing involvement in financing infrastructure and development projects would make the region more pro-China.
“China’s interests in Latin America go beyond raw materials extraction,” he said. “The biggest point of tension between the US and China in the region is perhaps that China presents an alternative model for development that is very different from the Western model.”
‘Mr Pompeo, you can stop’: China hits back over Latin America criticism
While the US was drumming up tensions about China across the world, Beijing was not openly retaliating but responding with investment and trade for global partners, said Kevin Gallagher, researcher on China-Latin America ties, and professor at Boston University.
“The US points fingers and makes angry speeches in the region as China cuts investment deals and helps address infrastructure needs,” he said.
“Latin American countries’ governments are rightly keeping their heads down on the broader geopolitical winds, and are getting down to business with their largest trading partner.”
Source: SCMP
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