WASHINGTON: Vice President Kamala Harris, in a visit to Singapore and Vietnam next week aimed to fight the influence of China’s growing, had to compete with new problems: the collapse of Afghanistan, who had left the Allies to question the credibility of US foreign policy.
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US allies have complained, they did not fully consult the decision of President Joe Biden to withdraw American forces from Afghanistan on August 31, which arose at odds with his promises to commit to global involvement with the Taliban fast takeover placing their national security interests at risk , Countries in Europe and Asia are wondering if they can rely on Washington to fulfill the commitment of the old security, experts said.
Harris’s journey aims to establish deeper relationships with Southeast Asia, the Washington region considers the key to checking Chinese expansion.
A senior White House official told Reuters this month, the focus of the vice president will defend international rules in the South China Sea, strengthen US regional leadership and expand security cooperation.
Regional experts such as Murray Hiebert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Washington said Harris had to try to convince his host that Washington’s commitment to Southeast Asia and not parallel with Afghanistan.
“Bilbabs in Afghanistan will ask for more concerns about us to stay in power and keep promises for allies,” he said.
The chaotic evacuation of Kabul has raised a picture of US 1975 withdrawal from Vietnam, which the government of the Washington Communist government tried to isolate for two decades after the Vietnam War, but with those who now enjoy a warm bond given by shared concerns about China.
A senior administrative official said Harris’s journey would show that the United States was in the region “to stay,” but concerns about the results in Afghanistan could muddy the message.
“What happened in Afghanistan has greatly frustrated and disappointing for many countries,” said Yun Sun, a colleague of the East Asia program at the Think Tank Center Center.
“The concern is one day when the United States determines you no longer as important, they can only pack and go and there is nothing you can do.” “And of course there are Chinese trying to use the narrative.” Vietnam has become a vocal opponent of Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea and Singapore sharing concerns about Beijing’s behavior that is increasingly assertive in the region.
Those and other Southeast Asian countries have welcomed the presence of the US military there giving Chinese militarization from the South China Sea and extensive coast guards and fishing fleets.
The US Navy has maintained a stable pattern of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and near Taiwan, but they don’t seem to do a little to prevent Beijing.
The senior administrative official said Washington was convinced that the United States Indo-Pacific Allah saw it as “pitra who was steadfast” and Harris would emphasize that on his journey.
The official said Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific was a priority for the Biden government and “which has not changed with Afghanistan.” “There is a difference between ensuring the open sea lane in Asia, which is a priority for the United States, and sustainable involvement in the civil war of other countries,” he said.
At the same time, he said, Harris will continue to work on the problems tied to Afghanistan during his trip, adding: “We can do more than one thing at a time.” Some experts pointed to the silver layer for Southeast Asia from US withdrawal from Afghanistan, said it would enable Washington to free resources from counterrogrorism missions and focus more on against Beijing.
“The shift to block and prepare for conflict with competitors approaching peer will be accelerated as a mindset of counterterrorism,” said Bonnie Glaser from the United States Marshall funds, referring to China.
Others warn that chaos in Kabul can at least delay the shift.
Harris matured in Singapore on Sunday and will be the first Vice President to visit Vietnam when he arrived there on Tuesday.
He left Vietnam two days later.