Kamala Harris rebukes China in major speech on Indo-Pacific

SINGAPORE — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a crisp rebuke to China for its incursions successful the South China Sea, informing its actions determination magnitude to “coercion” and “intimidation” and affirming that the U.S. volition enactment its allies successful the portion against Beijing’s advances.

“We cognize that Beijing continues to coerce, to intimidate and to marque claims to the immense bulk of the South China Sea,” she said successful a large overseas argumentation code Tuesday successful Singapore successful which she laid retired the Biden administration’s imaginativeness for the Indo-Pacific. “Beijing’s actions proceed to undermine the rules-based bid and endanger the sovereignty of nations.”

The code sought to cement the U.S. committedness to supporting its allies successful an country of increasing value to the Biden administration, which has made countering China’s power globally a centerpiece of its overseas policy.

Harris, who is connected a weeklong plaything done Southeast Asia, declared that the U.S. “stands with our allies and our partners” successful the look of threats from China.

The code Tuesday greeting astatine Singapore’s iconic Gardens by the Bay waterfront parkland offered an accidental for the erstwhile authorities lawyer wide and U.S. legislator to beryllium her fluidity with diplomatic and information issues.

Harris’ remarks besides travel during a captious infinitesimal for the United States arsenic the Biden medication seeks to further solidify its pivot towards Asia portion America’s decades-long absorption connected the Middle East comes to a messy extremity with the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Harris’ remarks echoed and expanded upon remarks she delivered astatine the U.S. Naval Academy graduation successful June, wherever she described a satellite that is “interconnected,” “interdependent” and “fragile.”

On Monday, Harris told sailors aboard a U.S. combat vessel astatine the Changi naval basal successful Singapore that “a large portion of the past of the 21st period volition beryllium written astir this precise region” and that their enactment defending the portion was pivotal.

“It is successful our captious involvement to basal agreed with our allies and our partners successful Southeast Asia successful defence of a escaped and unfastened Indo-Pacific,” she said.

Harris besides met Monday with Singapore President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The vice president’s bureau announced a fig of agreements retired of that gathering aimed astatine combating cyberthreats, tackling clime change, addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and alleviating proviso concatenation issues.

After her code Tuesday, Harris volition clasp a roundtable treatment with concern leaders connected proviso concatenation issues, and past question to Vietnam, wherever she’ll conscionable with apical officials Wednesday.

President Joe Biden himself has repeatedly emphasized his absorption connected China arsenic 1 of America’s main adversaries, pledging successful a February code astatine the State Department to “confront China’s economical abuses; antagonistic its aggressive, coercive action; to propulsion backmost connected China’s onslaught connected quality rights, intelligence property, and planetary governance” — a connection helium echoed again aboriginal that period to European allies astatine the virtual G7 Summit and Munich Security Conference.

And successful caller months, his medication has ramped up outreach to the Indo-Pacific region, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Austin some visiting the country successful the outpouring and summer. Secretary of State Antony Blinken besides held a fig of virtual meetings with Southeast Asian officials earlier this month.

The chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, however, analyzable that connection of enactment to the region, raising questions astir the U.S. committedness to its allies. While Biden said past week that an indefinite engagement would’ve benefited “true strategical competitors” China and Russia, China has seized connected the images of unit from the evacuation to slam the U.S. for its engagement there.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Monday that the U.S. had done “unscrupulous and dishonest things” successful Afghanistan and called connected the federation to assistance rebuild.

“The United States is the basal origin and the biggest outer origin successful the Afghan issue,” Wenbin said. “It cannot conscionable tally distant similar this.”

But Harris, during a associated quality league with Prime Minister Lee connected Monday, said that her beingness successful the country, combined with the agreements astir greater practice that the Biden medication has pursued with Indo-Pacific countries, talk “volumes successful presumption of the integrity of the relationships that the United States has astir the satellite connected galore issues.”