China's Health Diplomacy Activities during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Problems that transcend national borders such as climate change, environmental problems,
 migration and epidemics are increasing. The solution of such problems necessitates
 cooperation and leads to a more intense relationship between health and foreign policy. The
 21st century's Covid-19 virus, the event with the greatest global impact so far, has also
 created such an impact and made the health diplomacy activities of states very important. For
 this reason, health diplomacy activities and the effects of these activities, especially the aid
 provided by China during the Covid-19 process, have been analyzed and presented in a
 comparative manner. While health diplomacy activities are multifaceted, they also create an
 attraction. Therefore, the fields of soft power and public diplomacy are also touched upon, but
 it is aimed to provide a background starting from the basic power debates. During the Covid19 period, 
 it was observed that many states paid more attention to the national fight against
 the virus and restricted aid. However, the Chinese state, acting with the mission of acting as a
 responsible country while conducting a national struggle, also focused on health diplomacy
 activities and used it as a communication tool. In this process, it became one of the states that
 provided the most aid and increased its soft power. In general terms, it was concluded that the
 medical foreign aid it provided outside the Covid-19 process was not temporary but aimed at
 improving the health infrastructure. In this sense, it has been observed that health diplomacy
 activities should be increased for permanent health infrastructure in order to protect public
 health universally and to solve global problems that transcend borders such as Covid-19.