Singapore: Vice President Kamala Harris began a journey to Asia on Sunday where he would offer Washington’s commitment to the region after a chaotic US pull from Afghanistan and Taliban takeover.
The Hardline Islamist Swift returned to power a week ago, and the desperate scene of thousands of trying to escape, have thrown another shadow on the status of the United States as a global superpower.
But on his visit, which included a stop in Singapore and Vietnam, Harris will try to eliminate concerns about US dependence.
“The vice president will explain throughout the trip we have a lasting commitment to the region,” said a senior US official.
Harris, an Asian-American mother from India, landed in Singapore on Sunday and will begin its activities Monday by meeting the leaders of the cities.
Vietnamese feet have triggered criticism, with some accusing Harris to be a deaf to visit the communist country when US forces struggled to evacuate Americans, foreigners and allies of Afghanistan from Kabul Airport.
The crisis has pushed a comparison with the Trauma Saigon 1975, when the US helicopter carried Evakake final from the roof of the embassy, ​​when Viet Cong forces advanced.
US officials said the trip was planned long before the Afghan disaster – and insisted Harris focused on the broader strategic goal of Washington in Asia.
This is the latest visit by the US Main Official to the region, as the administration of President Joe Biden is looking to build an alliance against China and rearrange relationships after the turbulent Donald Trump presidency.
When China challenged our rocking and the dominance of the navy in the Indo-Pacific region, Southeast Asia remained strategically important and economically important for this country “, said a White House official, who asked not to be named.
“It doesn’t change with Afghanistan.” The region of 10 countries is a growing battle for influence between the United States and China, and Washington has repeatedly criticized Beijing’s expansive claims to almost all the South China Sea.
Four Southeast Asian countries – Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam – and Taiwan have claims that overlap with Beijing in the sea flashpoint, home for key delivery lines.
“Following the previous administration and what happened in Afghanistan, it was a categorical necessity for the US to build political confidence in the region,” Mustafa Izzuddin, a senior Affairs International analyst at the Singapore Strategy Solaris Consultant.
During Singapore’s foot from his trip, Harris will meet with the president and the prime minister and stop at the Changi Navy base, where he will overcome our sailors above USS Tulsa visiting.
He arrived at Hanoi on Tuesday night, and would become the first Vice President of the US to visit Vietnam.
He will hold a meeting of the Vietnamese government, attend the opening of the Southeast Asian regional branch from US centers for disease control, and meet representatives of civil society in communist countries.
He will also join the virtual meeting of Southeast Asian officials who will focus on the Coronavirus pandemic.