China’s Contributions to the Ebola Fight

Posted by on Oct 24, 2014 in Blog | 0 comments

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has already killed over 4,500 people and threatens to turn into a full-fledged pandemic if the international community fails to coordinate efforts to combat the deadly disease.  Since the initial infections, China has donated food, materiel, drugs and medical equipment to the affected countries, not to mention sending hundreds medical and other professionals there to help train locals and treat the diseased.  But, that has not prevented unwarranted criticism about China’s ‘lagging’ contributions from the Western media and certain quarters, including Africans ignorant of the extent of China’s actual commitment and involvement.

UK’s Telegraph, for instance, charged: “China is a major investor in Africa…but both the government and private sector have been relatively slow in using their financial muscle to fight Ebola”. Negatively comparing China’s efforts to Cuba’s which is deemed completely altruistic, Nigeria Labour Congress officials accused China of failing to make “practical demonstration of support” while Chinese companies extract huge profits from Africa.  Similarly, albeit acknowledging Chinese government support, Brett Rierson, the World Food Programme’s (WFP) representative in China, blasted China’s uber-rich and corporations for not stepping up to the plate.  “Where are the Chinese billionaires and their potential impact?  Because this is the time that could really have such a huge impact”, Mr Rierson lashed out.

While Mr Rierson’s criticisms of China’s hyper riche may have some merit and this author joins him in that call, the suggestion that the Chinese government has been slow to act is simply false.  At a UN General Assembly meeting last week, China’s deputy permanent representative Wang Min pointed out that China has been lending a helping hand from the very outset.  “In April, August and September, humanitarian aid with a total amount of 234 million RMB (US$38.2 million) has been provided to West African countries, including protective supplies, food, and cash assistance”, he said.  This figure presumably includes the most recent donation of US$6 million in food aid (same as Japan) to the WFP to help alleviate food shortages in the three worst-hit countries Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.

At the recently held Asia-Europe Summit Meeting in Milan, Italy, visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang committed at least another 100 million RMB (US$16.32 million) in additional aid, including motorcycles, 10,000 prevention care packages, and 150,000 sets of personal protective equipment, reported the Xinhua News Agency.  China’s contributions and pledges thus total US$54.52 million which compare favourably to Britain’s (US$18.8 million), France’s (US$7.4 million), Italy’s (US$8 million) and Spain’s paltry US$540,000 contributions to the UN’s main Ebola relief fund.  Additionally, China will send dozens more doctors and other experts to help train about 10,000 health care workers and community prevention and control personnel.  Thus far, China has dispatched the largest number of medical personnel to the affected areas of any major donor country.  The US has contributed the most to the UN fund with more than US$200 million along with US$12.67 million for the WFP’s Ebola effort.

It is also not entirely true that Chinese corporations have not pitched in despite major Chinese investments in stricken countries.  Liberia’s ambassador to China Dudley Thomas disclosed to Reuters that a large Chinese construction firm active in his country has donated US$100,000 to his country’s cause and the Liberian government was/is in talks with other large Chinese investors, including the state-owned private equity China-Africa Development Fund.

In the global race to develop a Ebola drug, last week, Sichuan Pharmaceutical Holdings Group Ltd. sent several thousand doses of its drug JK-05 to affected countries.   Developed in collaboration with the Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS), the drug has been approved in China for emergency military use and is seeking approval for general use in China.  The Chinese drug is similar to the Japanese influenza drug Favipiravir which analysts say is an encouraging sign.  In terms of human clinical trials, JK-05 (proven effective on mice) lags behind US-developed drugs ZMapp and TKM-Ebola which have been tested on monkeys and prescribed for Ebola patients.  However, should the Chinese drug prove to be an effective cure, it would serve to greatly boost China’s medical soft power in Africa, the largest destination for Chinese foreign direct investment and where over a million Chinese nationals currently reside and conduct business.