COVAX vs Sinovac. A test for the legitimacy of the World Health Organization in South East Asia

The coronavirus disease-19 crisis has challenged the legitimacy of the World Health Organization as an actor in global health governance and provided the opportunity for China to emerge as a partner of developing countries in facing global pandemics. In this respect, South East Asia represents an emblematic region for testing the legitimacy of the international organisation vis-a-vis the emerging power. This article adopts a sociological interpretation of legitimacy and provides an empirical analysis of the discursive and non-discursive practices in South East Asian countries concerning support to – and criticism against – the World Health Organization–led initiative COVAX. It provides a variegated and dynamic picture of perceptions of the international organisation in the region. Our results partly call into question representations of the weakening of the legitimacy of the World Health Organization in favour of China’s leading role. Finally, the article recognises the need to analyse legitimacy of the World Health Organization in connection both with the broader geopolitical positioning of governments receiving the Organization’s aid and with the levels of trust in the government of the public in competing partners in dealing with global pandemics.