if the chinese were to stop shipment of a vaccine to canada over a legitimate legal process involving a relative of a valued member of the ruling clique (rather than any actual threat to it's security), it would reflect rather poorly upon them. that is corruption, plain and simple.

faced with this kind of corruption in the chinese ruling class, canada should not be compliant, or wonder what may have been had it been more compliant. rather, it should seek a greater level of autonomy in the production of this material.

as it is, i do not believe that vaccine research is an area that has been harmed by the neo-liberal order in this sense, although manufacturing a vaccine in the end may be an open question - and something that the federal government should be monitoring and perhaps altering the capacity for.

so, one hopes this does not actually happen; if it does, it should be seen as a disincentive to integrate supply chains with the chinese, rather than as an incentive to be compliant.

https://nationalpost.com/health/china-spat-may-be-threatening-canadas-bid-to-get-early-access-to-leading-covid-19-vaccine-experts