Kamala Harris says Asia won’t have to choose between US and China

SINGAPORE – Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday called Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea and sought to assure countries in Asia that they will not have to choose between the United States and China.

“We know that Beijing continues to coerce, intimidate and claim the vast majority of the South China Sea,” Harris said in a speech in Singapore during his first official visit to Southeast Asia.

“These illegal claims were dismissed by the 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling, and Beijing’s actions continue to undermine the rules-based order and threaten the sovereignty of nations,” she added. “The United States stands with our allies and partners in the face of these threats.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea – but a Permanent Court of Arbitration tribunal dismissed that claim as legally baseless in 2016.

The South China Sea is a resource-rich waterway that is a vital trade shipping route through which billions of dollars of global trade transit each year. In addition to China, other land claimants at sea include Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

But Beijing has ignored the court ruling and, in recent years, has even increased its presence by deploying ships to patrol the waters and building man-made islands.

Harris said the United States wanted to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific – a region that largely refers to the area between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Southeast Asia, which lies in the heart of the Indo-Pacific, has been caught in recent years between the two as rivalry between the United States and China intensifies.

The United States has been a significant presence in Southeast Asia for decades thanks to its security and economic commitments, but China’s aggressive push through programs such as its Belt and Road Initiative has increased Beijing’s influence. In the region.

Harris assured countries in the region that the United States would not make them choose between Washington and Beijing.

“I have to be clear: our engagement in Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific is not against any one country in particular, nor is it designed to force anyone to choose between countries,” she declared.

The vice president also stressed that the United States remains committed to the region, even though President Joe Biden has come under criticism for how he has handled the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan. She reiterated her comment Monday that the United States is “laser focused” on the evacuation efforts.

Asian countries have had to balance a rising China and the United States which has been a “security guarantor” in the region, according to David Adelman, former US ambassador to Singapore, who spoke with CNBC after Harris’ speech on Tuesday. .

Asian countries would like tensions between the United States and China to subside – but that will take “some time,” he told CNBC’s “Capital Connection”.

“There won’t be a dramatic breakthrough,” said Adelman, who is now managing director and legal counsel at asset management firm KraneShares.

“It’s going to happen gradually starting with confidence building measures, and slowly easing part of the trade war that developed under the Trump administration, and returning – I think – to a more normal relationship between Beijing and Washington, “he added.

Harris arrived in Singapore on Sunday and is expected to leave for Vietnam on Tuesday afternoon, before leaving the region on Thursday. His visit to the region followed several high-level US engagements with leaders in Southeast Asia.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken attended virtual meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, earlier this month; while Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited several countries in the region in July, including Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines.