Harris rebukes China in speech on Indo-Pacific vision

SINGAPORE (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a crisp rebuke to China for its incursions successful the South China Sea during a code successful Singapore connected Tuesday.

She warned that China’s actions determination magnitude to coercion and intimidation, and she affirmed 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,” said Harris. “These unlawful claims person been rejected by the 2016 arbitral tribunal decision. And Beijing’s actions proceed to undermine the rules-based bid and endanger the sovereignty of nations.”

Harris besides highlighted America’s commercialized relationships successful Southeast Asia.

“Collectively, the nations of Southeast Asia correspond our nation’s fourth-largest export marketplace – a vibrant and dynamic marketplace which volition soon fertile among the biggest markets successful the world,” she said. “Our commercialized relationships successful Southeast Asia enactment much than 600,000 American jobs. And now, with an oculus toward the future, we are strengthening our economical engagement.”

After speaking astir the U.S. efforts to extremity the COVID-19 pandemic, Harris ended her code by speaking astir Burma.

“The United States remains profoundly alarmed by the subject coup successful Burma,” she said. “We condemn the run of convulsive repression. And we are committed to supporting the radical determination arsenic they enactment to instrumentality their federation to the way of democracy. And we bash anticipation that nations passim the Indo-Pacific volition articulation america successful that effort.”

The Biden medication is seeking to further solidify its pivot toward Asia portion America’s decades-long absorption connected the Middle East comes to a messy extremity with the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

This week, Harris is visiting Singapore and Vietnam with the extremity of strengthening U.S. ties successful the region.