Hanoi: Vice President Kamala Harris called on Vietnam to join the US to challenge China's "bullying" in the South China Sea, a continuation of her sharp rhetoric against Beijing as she tours Southeast Asia this week.
"We need to find ways to pressure and raise the pressure, frankly, on Beijing to abide by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and to challenge its bullying and excessive maritime claims," she said, in remarks at the opening of a bilateral meeting with Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
Her comments follow sharp words towards Beijing during a speech in Singapore Tuesday, where she said their actions in the South China Sea amount to "coercion" and "intimidation." On Wednesday in Vietnam, Harris also said that the US supports sending the country an additional US Coast Guard cutter, to help defend its security interests in the South China Sea. And she embraced elevating the relationship with Vietnam from a comprehensive partnership to a strategic partnership, a diplomatic designation that would reflect the deepening relationship between the two former foes.
They're the latest moves by the Biden administration to strengthen its alliances in the Indo-Pacific region in an effort to counter China's influence.
Harris' trip there, which included a stop in Singapore earlier this week, is aimed at broadening US engagement with both nations and affirming the US commitment to the region.
Harris, who is the first US vice president to visit Vietnam, told the nation's president that "our relationship has come a long way in a quarter of a century." She also announced the launch of a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Southeast Asia regional office. The new CDC office will be one of four regional offices globally, and it's focused on collaborating with regional governments on research and training to deal with and prevent global health crises.
The announcement comes as Vietnam is grappling with record high coronavirus infections in Vietnam driven by the delta variant and stubbornly low vaccination rates in the country. The surge in cases prompted a recent lockdown in Ho Chi Minh City, the nation's business hub and the epicenter of the latest outbreak.
