The republic had donated 28m doses of Sinovac vaccine to Asean countries so far

by ANIS HAZIM / pic by TMR FILE

CHINA will contribute another one million doses of the Sinovac vaccine to Malaysia soon to strengthen health diplomacy between the two countries further.

Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah (picture) said that China had donated 28 million doses of Sinovac vaccine to Asean countries so far, while 500,000 of them were donated to Malaysia.

On top of additional vaccines, China will also cooperate with Asean in public health and pharmaceutical capabilities through the sharing of technology, expertise and intellectual property (IP).

“This will help Asean strengthen its public health system and increase preparedness to address future health emergencies,” Saifuddin told a press conference after the virtual Asean-China Special Summit together with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob yesterday.

He said during the virtual summit, Malaysia has expressed views that Asean and China should cooperate in the digital economy, transformation and infrastructure, and connectivity to ensure that the supply chain remains unimpeded and continues to grow in the post-Covid-19 pandemic.

“Meanwhile, the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the comprehensive Asean-China free trade agreement could also contribute to accelerating regional recovery and resilience,” Saifuddin said, adding that Malaysia is committed to ratifying the RCEP by year-end.

Malaysia also proposed that Asean and China strengthen multilateralism especially in the reform of the United Nations (UN), to ensure its effectiveness and relevance to face the global dynamics.

“In this regard, Malaysia has suggested the need to create a new global health security order to better deal with future pandemics,” he noted.

Moreover, Malaysia welcomed China’s commitments and others at Climate Conference 26, which stressed the need to balance efforts to address the effects of climate change with economic development as outlined by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.

Saifuddin said this is in line with Malaysia’s intention to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

On the South China Sea issue, the PM has reiterated Malaysia’s consistent stance and called for it to be managed peacefully, constructively and rationally through dialogue and consultation.

“Malaysia stressed that all countries must remain committed to maintaining the South China Sea as an ocean of peace, stability and trade,” added Saifuddin.

Besides, Malaysia has raised issues regarding the situation in Myanmar, which was absent at the virtual summit.

“We reiterated the country’s stance in support of the special envoy of the Asean chair’s efforts on Myanmar to implement the mandate under the five-point consensus,” he said.