SINGAPORE — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a sharp rebuke to China for its incursions in the South China Sea, warning its actions there amount to \u201ccoercion\u201d and \u201cintimidation\u201d and affirming that the U.S. will support its allies in the region against Beijing\u2019s advances.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that Beijing continues to coerce, to intimidate and to make claims to the vast majority of the South China Sea,\u201d she said in a major foreign policy speech Tuesday in Singapore in which she laid out the Biden administration\u2019s vision for the Indo-Pacific. \u201cBeijing\u2019s actions continue to undermine the rules-based order and threaten the sovereignty of nations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The speech sought to cement the U.S. commitment to supporting its allies in an area of growing importance to the Biden administration, which has made countering China\u2019s influence globally a centerpiece of its foreign policy.<\/p>\n
Harris, who is on a weeklong swing through Southeast Asia, declared that the U.S. \u201cstands with our allies and our partners\u201d in the face of threats from China.<\/p>\n
The address Tuesday morning at Singapore\u2019s iconic Gardens by the Bay waterfront park offered an opportunity for the former state attorney general and U.S. senator to prove her fluidity with diplomatic and security issues.<\/p>\n
Harris\u2019 remarks also come during a critical moment for the United States as the Biden administration seeks to further solidify its pivot towards Asia while America\u2019s decades-long focus on the Middle East comes to a messy end with the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
Harris\u2019 remarks echoed and expanded upon remarks she delivered at the U.S. Naval Academy graduation in June, where she described a world that is \u201cinterconnected,\u201d \u201cinterdependent\u201d and \u201cfragile.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Monday, Harris told sailors aboard a U.S. combat ship at the Changi naval base in Singapore that \u201ca big part of the history of the 21st century will be written about this very region\u201d and that their work defending the region was pivotal.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is in our vital interest to stand united with our allies and our partners in Southeast Asia in defense of a free and open Indo-Pacific,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Harris also met Monday with Singapore President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The vice president\u2019s office announced a number of agreements out of that meeting aimed at combating cyberthreats, tackling climate change, addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and alleviating supply chain issues.<\/p>\n
After her speech Tuesday, Harris will hold a roundtable discussion with business leaders on supply chain issues, and then travel to Vietnam, where she\u2019ll meet with top officials Wednesday.<\/p>\n
President Joe Biden himself has repeatedly emphasized his focus on China as one of America\u2019s main adversaries, pledging in a February speech at the State Department to \u201cconfront China\u2019s economic abuses; counter its aggressive, coercive action; to push back on China\u2019s attack on human rights, intellectual property, and global governance\u201d — a message he echoed again later that month to European allies at the virtual G7 Summit and Munich Security Conference.<\/p>\n
And in recent months, his administration has ramped up outreach to the Indo-Pacific region, with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Austin both visiting the area in the spring and summer. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also held a number of virtual meetings with Southeast Asian officials earlier this month.<\/p>\n
The chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, however, complicated that message of support to the region, raising questions about the U.S. commitment to its allies. While Biden said last week that an indefinite engagement would\u2019ve benefited \u201ctrue strategic competitors\u201d China and Russia, China has seized on the images of violence from the evacuation to slam the U.S. for its engagement there.<\/p>\n
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Monday that the U.S. had done \u201cunscrupulous and dishonest things\u201d in Afghanistan and called on the nation to help rebuild.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe United States is the root cause and the biggest external factor in the Afghan issue,\u201d Wenbin said. \u201cIt cannot just run away like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Harris, during a joint news conference with Prime Minister Lee on Monday, said that her presence in the country, combined with the agreements around greater cooperation that the Biden administration has pursued with Indo-Pacific countries, speak \u201cvolumes in terms of the integrity of the relationships that the United States has around the world on many issues.\u201d<\/p>\n