Virus fight sets things right

The rest of the world should similarly better understand China's increasingly important role for global development, Cavolo says.

"I don't think China wants to be the world's leader. No, I don't think China wants to take up that mantle so much as to go out and say, 'We're capable. We're efficient. We're here to help. We can serve your interests. We're willing to and we want to.' The pandemic is a perfectly good example of this," he says.

"The idea that China is offering vaccines, both donated and for sale all over the world, is a perfectly good example. This is not 'vaccine diplomacy'. This is China saying 'shared future'.

"The fact of the matter is that what China does need to do is continue to follow through on its commitments, that it wants to promote a shared future and continue backing that with action."

Just like its anti-pandemic help extended worldwide, China's efforts in the Belt and Road Initiative reflect its desire for shared progress, Cavolo says.

"Before the 'vaccine diplomacy' accusation, there was the 'debt diplomacy' accusation-that so many of these countries were being 'indebted' by the Belt and Road Initiative. And again, this is just political scaremongering. It's political hubris. It's not accurate. Research was done to clearly show that the deals that were made with other countries in the Belt and Road Initiative didn't amount at all to 'debt diplomacy', but China actually working within the Belt and Road Initiative structure across the world to expand, to offer its capability in places like Latin America, in places like Africa, in the global south, and even reaching into Europe," he says.

"Countries welcome a country that's capable. You want to do business with and collaborate with someone when you see they're capable, they're successful, they know what they're doing."