Vice President Harris’s trip to SE Asia overshadowed by Afghan issues.

[ASEAN NOW News]

Vice President Harris heads to Singapore and Vietnam this week on her second foreign trip since taking office, looking to strengthen relations with partners in China’s darkening shadow and help prepare the region to fight future pandemics. 

 

Vice President Harris (file photo)

 

But while Harris brings a message that the United States is committed to the Indo-Pacific, the humiliating debacle in Afghanistan has America’s friends and foes alike questioning Washington’s ability and will to sustain those kinds of engagements. 

 

A White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the trip was proceeding as planned and Harris would be continually briefed on the situation in Afghanistan while abroad and join deliberations on next steps.

 

“Given our global leadership role, we can, and we must manage developments in one region while simultaneously advancing our strategic interests in other regions on other issues,” the official said.

 

 “The United States has many interests around the world, and we are well-equipped to pursue them all at the same time.”

 

The vice president leaves Washington on Friday and arrives Sunday in Singapore, where she will deliver what aides are calling a major speech laying out the future of the U.S. relationship with a region increasingly under pressure from Beijing. 

 

“We see this on a day-to-day basis, just how much events in one part of the world can affect us here in the United States,” a senior administration official said on the condition of anonymity. 

 

Off to Vietnam as well

 

Harris will be the first sitting U.S. vice president to visit Vietnam when she arrives on Aug. 24.

 

While there, she will meet virtually with health ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and herald the launch of a regional office of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

 

Harris has “been pushing, even as we work to solve this pandemic, to get ready, get the world ready, to deal with the next one,” a second senior U.S. official said, also on the condition of anonymity.

 

The vice president will be the most senior U.S. official to visit the region since Biden took office promising to shore up alliances, in part to serve as a counterweight to Beijing.

 

“You don’t have to take a super-blunt approach to dealing with China issues when you are in places like Southeast Asia,” the second senior U.S. official said.

 

 “Showing up, focusing on the work that needs to be done, building a strong partnership with really crucial countries like Singapore and Vietnam, those things in themselves speak volumes.” 

 

Trade issues will also loom large on the vice president’s trip, not just because of Chinese encroachment on freedom of navigation, but because of Vietnam’s crucial role as exporter of microchips, which run short in the United States. 

 

“When we talk about supply chain resiliency, everybody knows that semiconductor shortages have been part of the problem,” the first senior official said. 

 

While no major announcements are expected, the relationships are important. 

 

“These partnerships are not abstract or theoretical,” the official said, noting “prices of new cars go up dramatically because of a shortage of chips, and then prices of used cars go up dramatically because the price of new cars.” 

 

“Americans understand why it's important to have partners we can rely on and systems in place that prevent such shortages from happening in the future,” the official said. “This will be high on the list.” 

 

South China Sea

 

The visit will also be the culmination of months of American outreach to Asia, where Washington’s partners worry about China’s rising influence and notably its efforts to claim control over vast reaches of the South China Sea. 

 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently went to Japan and South Korea on their trip overseas. 

 

Austin specifically condemned China’s claims to the South China Sea last month during a trip to Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines. 

 

I am sure VP Harris would agree that the timing of her SE Asian trip has been exasperated by the global view of the American’s handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal, but as they say…”the show must go on!”