Physics

Public health

Sociology

Soft power

Public diplomacy

International relations

Economic growth

Politics

Machine learning

Nursing

Political economy

Political science

Leverage (statistics)

China

Public good

Economics

Power (physics)

Microeconomics

Beijing

Global public good

Hard power

Nation branding

Public relations

Computer science

Development economics

Diplomacy

Quantum mechanics

Medicine

Place Branding and Public Diplomacy

As a global crisis, COVID-19 has altered how nation-states project influence. Public health has risen to the top of every agenda as individuals, societies, and nation-states focus on a common goal. With the advent of COVID-19 vaccines, home-grown national vaccines when distributed all over the world can play an integral role in nation branding as a technique for projecting soft power. This paper applies the theoretical lenses of nation branding and soft power to examine China's bilateral vaccine diplomacy efforts, specifically the motivations and outcomes. The findings suggest that Chinese vaccines are used not only for image repair and for expanding Beijing's great power ambitions, but also to reinforce and leverage existing soft power programs, and to capitalize on new economic and geopolitical opportunities. Vaccine diplomacy is a natural extension of Chinese soft power including prior engagement in health diplomacy. Sentiment analyses of social media and international media coverage suggest that where vaccines go, influence may follow. Although international sentiments are not all positive—with concerns over Chinese vaccines' efficacy, safety, and data availability, Beijing reaped substantial soft power dividends through its ability to project influence in scientific prowess and civic virtue by providing the vaccines as International Public Goods through aid and gifts to countries left behind by the vaccine inequity.

Vaccine diplomacy: nation branding and China’s COVID-19 soft power play