Kamala Harris Plans to Visit Vietnam and Singapore

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The White House announced Friday that US Vice President Kamala Harris plans to visit Vietnam and Singapore next month, amid tensions between Washington and Beijing over the South China Sea.

A statement released from the White House mentioned Harris's trip aims at “strengthening ties with two critical Indo-Pacific partners.”

This will be Vietnam's first time receiving the Vice President in the White House, who stated intentions to discuss with the two governments “security in the region, the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and efforts to strengthen an international order based law,” likely referring to Beijing in the South China Sea.

On Tuesday, while touring several countries in Southeast Asia, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that Beijing’s claims had “no basis in international law.”

Austin’s statement came during a time when Britain and America’s fleet were touring the South China Sea and surrounding area, amidst rising tension between China, Britain, and America.

China not only denies the accusations of the US and Western countries about occupying common waters, but it also claims sovereignty over the sea, where trillions of dollars of maritime trade pass yearly. Similar claims of sovereignty come from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

After the era of Former US President Donald Trump, which was marked by direct media and political confrontations and underlined by imposing economic sanctions, President Biden's administration wishes to repair relations with Asian countries in order to build alliances against China, while there seems to be no difference between the two administrations when it comes to confronting China in public policies.