Xi Jinping ‘unwilling to take a better vaccine from the West’, US intel says

Xi Jinping will not allow Western vaccines to be used in China, according to US director of national intelligence Avril Haines.

On Sunday, Ms Haines pointed to the Chinese president’s reliance on the country’s indigenous Sinovac vaccine.

Mr 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”, she said.

The remarks by the top US official come amid widespread protests in the country and the government’s uphill task of curbing the spread of the disease.

Chinese citizens, fed up with three years of stringent lockdowns and other harsh measures, have won a temporary battle after the government softened its “zero-Covid” policy in some cities.

In Beijing and Shenzhen, some curbs were lifted during the weekend. Restrictions were eased earlier in the week in Guangzhou city as well, where police in hazmat gear and shields advanced in formation against demonstrators.

“Seeing protests and the response to it is countering the narrative that he likes to put forward, which is that China is so much more effective at government,” Ms Haines added.

“It’s [protests], again, not something we see as being a threat to stability at this moment, or regime change or anything like that,” stated Ms Haines.

“How it develops will be important to Xi’s standing.”

Mr Xi, on the other hand, reportedly countered the global media coverage of the protests by saying they were the handiwork of “frustrated students”. The Chinese government has not openly commented on the protests.

Meanwhile, questions have emerged over the rising number of daily Covid cases in China, whether it would be wise to ease restrictions and how the government can tackle the spread of the virus in the face of the demonstrations that have dented Mr Xi’s and the Communist Party’s image in global media.

On Sunday, the country reported 35,775 cases from the past 24 hours, 31,607 of which were asymptomatic.

Two Covid deaths were also reported from the Shandong and Sichuan provinces on the same day.

Studies have also shown that Sinovac is not as effective as its foreign counterparts.

Vaccination rates leave a lot to be desired as well. Even though nine in 10 citizens have received at least one jab, rates among the elderly are concerning.

Only 66 per cent of people over 80 have received one shot, while 40 per cent have received a booster, reported the Associated Press, citing China’s National Health Commission.

It means fewer Chinese citizens have developed antibodies against Covid, something that would not help in curbing the disease, despite the Chinese government’s defence that the Omicron variant is less severe than its predecessors.

“It seems fairly far-fetched that China would greenlight Western vaccines at this point,” an unnamed US official told Reuters.

“It’s a matter of national pride, and they’d have to swallow quite a bit of it if they went this route.”

Additional reporting by agencies