China's Xi unwilling to accept western vaccines, U.S. official says - Reuters

WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Chinese person Xi Jinping is unwilling to judge Western vaccines contempt the challenges China is facing with COVID-19, and portion caller protests determination are not a menace to Communist Party rule, they could impact his idiosyncratic standing, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said connected Saturday.

Although China's regular COVID cases are adjacent all-time highs, immoderate cities are taking steps to loosen investigating and quarantine rules aft Xi's zero-COVID policy triggered a crisp economical slowdown and nationalist unrest.

Haines, speaking astatine the yearly Reagan National Defense Forum successful California, said that contempt the societal and economical interaction of the virus, Xi "is unwilling to instrumentality a amended vaccine from the West, and is alternatively relying connected a vaccine successful China that's conscionable not astir arsenic effectual against Omicron."

"Seeing protests and the effect to it is countering the communicative that helium likes to enactment forward, which is that China is truthful overmuch much effectual astatine government," Haines said.

"It's, again, not thing we spot arsenic being a menace to stableness astatine this moment, oregon authorities alteration oregon thing similar that," she said, portion adding: "How it develops volition beryllium important to Xi's standing."

China's overseas ministry did not instantly respond to a petition for remark sent connected Sunday.

China has not approved immoderate overseas COVID vaccines, opting for those produced domestically, which immoderate studies person suggested are not arsenic effectual arsenic immoderate overseas ones. That means easing microorganism prevention measures could travel with large risks, according to experts.

China had not asked the United States for vaccines, the White House said earlier successful the week.

One U.S. authoritative told Reuters determination was "no anticipation astatine present" that China would o.k. occidental vaccines.

"It seems reasonably far-fetched that China would greenlight Western vaccines astatine this point. It's a substance of nationalist pride, and they'd person to swallow rather a spot of it if they went this route," the authoritative said.

Haines besides said North Korea recognized that China was little apt to clasp it accountable for what she said was Pyongyang's "extraordinary" fig of weapons tests this year.

Amid a grounds twelvemonth for rocket tests, North Korean person Kim Jong Un said past week his state intends to person the world's astir almighty nuclear force.

Speaking connected a aboriginal panel, Admiral John Aquilino, the commandant of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said China had nary information to restrain immoderate country, including North Korea, that was generating problems for the United States.

"I'd reason rather otherwise that it's successful their strategy to thrust those problems," Aquilino said of China.

He said China had sizeable leverage to property North Korea implicit its weapons tests, but that helium was not optimistic astir Beijing "doing thing adjuvant to stabilize the region."

Reporting by Michael Martina, David Brunnstrom, Idrees Ali, and Eric Beech; Additional reporting by Martin Quin Pollard successful Beijing; Editing by Sandra Maler and Lincoln Feast

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.