Blinken denounces China's 'strings attached' vaccine diplomacy

Top US diplomat attacks Beijing's maritime expansion around Taiwan, Senkakus

20210317 Blinken and SINOVAC vaccine

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks in "two-plus-two" talks in Tokyo on Tuesday. In an interview with Japanese media, he attacked China's so-called vaccine diplomacy. (Source photos by Reuters)

ERI SUGIURA, Nikkei staff writer

TOKYO -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced China's so-called vaccine diplomacy, saying it was "deeply unfortunate" that countries play politics with people's health.

"Various countries including China have been engaged in so called vaccine diplomacy," Blinken told Nikkei Asia and other Japanese media on Wednesday in an online roundtable. "We shouldn't tie the distribution or access to vaccines to politics or to geopolitics."

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