Kamala Harris says Asia will not have to choose between the United States and China

SINGAPORE – Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday denounced Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea and tried to assure Asian countries that they will not have to choose between the US 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 have been rejected by the 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling and Beijing’s actions continue to undermine rule-based order and threaten the sovereignty of nations,” he added. “The United States is on the side of our allies and partners in the face of these threats.”

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, but a court in the Permanent Arbitration Court dismissed this claim as legally unfounded in 2016.

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

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

Harris said the United States wants to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific, a region that refers to the area between the Indian and Pacific oceans.

Southeast Asia, located in the heart of the Indo-Pacific, has been trapped by the center in recent years as rivalry between the US and China intensifies.

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

Harris assured the countries in the region that the US will not make them choose between Washington and Beijing.

“I have to be clear: our commitment to Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific is not against a country nor is it designed to make anyone choose between countries,” he said.

The vice president also stressed that the U.S. remains committed to the region, even when President Joe Biden faced criticism over how he handled the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. He reiterated his comment Monday that the United States is “laser-focused” on evacuation efforts.

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

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