Harris to meet with Singapore officials to begin Asia visit

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Vice President Kamala Harris volition conscionable with Singapore’s president and premier curate arsenic she kicks disconnected a sojourn to Southeast Asia focused connected strengthening ties with cardinal allies successful the region, a task analyzable by the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The trip, which brings Harris to Singapore and past aboriginal to Vietnam this week, is aimed astatine broadening practice with some nations to connection a counterweight to China’s increasing power successful the region. She is expected to code economical and information issues arsenic good arsenic efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

After gathering with President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong connected Monday morning, the vice president volition enactment successful a associated quality conference, and aboriginal sojourn the Changi Naval Base, wherever she’ll talk to American sailors aboard the USS Tulsa, a combat ship.

On Tuesday, Harris volition present a code outlining the Biden administration’s imaginativeness for the region, and conscionable with concern leaders to sermon proviso concatenation issues.

The travel marks Harris’ 2nd overseas travel — she visited Guatemala and Mexico successful June — and volition beryllium the archetypal clip a U.S. vice president has visited Vietnam.

Singapore is the anchor of the U.S. naval beingness successful Southeast Asia and has a heavy commercialized concern with the U.S., but the state besides seeks to support beardown ties with China and a presumption of neutrality amid progressively frosty U.S.-China relations.

Relations betwixt the U.S. and China deteriorated sharply nether Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, and the 2 sides stay astatine likelihood implicit a big of issues including technology, cybersecurity and quality rights.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made their archetypal overseas trips to Japan and South Korea. Austin traveled to Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines past period and helium vowed U.S. enactment against Beijing’s intrusions successful the South China Sea.

Harris is expected to stress the request for a escaped and unfastened Indo-Pacific portion successful her conversations with Singapore's and Vietnam's leaders.

Alexander Feldman, president and CEO of the US-ASEAN Business Council, said Harris volition person to beryllium cautious successful her conversations with Singapore’s leaders not to absorption excessively heavy connected China, but to stress a positive, productive U.S. narration with Singapore and Vietnam.

“Where she could autumn into a trap is truly trying to pit this arsenic a U.S. versus China trip. it should beryllium a U.S. travel to our friends and partners successful in Southeast Asia,” Feldman said.

If China becomes the main focal point, helium said, “that makes it harder for our friends to determination guardant crossed the region, not lone successful Singapore and Vietnam but beyond that.”

Indeed, Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said in a caller interview that Singapore volition “be utile but we volition not beryllium made usage of” successful its relations with some countries, and the nation’s premier curate previously warned the U.S. against pursuing an assertive attack to China.

Beijing, however, has seized connected the visit, with China’s authoritative Xinhua News Agency issuing an editorial Saturday connected Harris’ travel portraying it arsenic portion of a thrust to incorporate China.

Visits to Southeast Asia by elder Biden officials are aiming to “woo these countries to signifier a ringing of containment against China. But Southeast Asian countries are reluctant to take sides betwixt China and the United States, and America’s 'wishful plan’ volition extremity successful failure,” Xinhua said.

The U.S. attack is based connected “outdated Cold War reasoning and is intended to provoke troubles successful their relations with China, make part and confrontation, and effort to make a ringing of containment,” the editorial said.

While Harris navigates the challenging diplomacy surrounding the contented of China, she’ll besides look the task of reassuring cardinal U.S. allies of America’s committedness to Southeast Asia, successful the aftermath of the tumultuous Afghanistan exit. Images of hopeless Afghans mobbing American plans leaving Kabul person drawn comparisons to images from the autumn of Saigon astatine the extremity of the Vietnam War.

Harris' aides person been cautious to stress that portion she remains profoundly engaged connected the concern successful Afghanistan, the Southeast Asia travel was planned good earlier the caller events, and they accidental Harris' enactment successful Singapore and Vietnam is important autarkic of the developments successful Afghanistan.

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