DUS Vice President’s first trip to Asia Kamala Harris Because taking office was planned long before the recent events in Afghanistan. Given the increasingly fierce strategic competition with China, this week’s visit to the city-states of Singapore and Vietnam should give an impression that the United States is still committed to the region. Harris wanted to show that after Donald Trump was voted to step down, Asia once again had a reliable partner in Washington.
But the crisis in Afghanistan now casts doubt on this reliability.Returning picture Taliban The chaos at Kabul Airport was followed by the terror of Southeast Asia. Now, the vice president must face the question of how tenable the protection guarantees Americans provide to allies in the region.
“Robust Analysis”
At a press conference with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday, China only showed up a little bit. Instead, conversations with reporters were mainly about Afghanistan. The vice president avoided the question of whether Afghanistan made a mistake. It just announced a “powerful analysis” of the incident later. The current focus is on evacuation, and Americans, their Afghan aid workers and particularly dangerous Afghans will be taken out of the country. As far as Lee is concerned, he understands the withdrawal of American troops. He mentioned Singapore’s involvement, which had participated in international operations with its own soldiers for a period of time. Singapore also proposed the use of military transport to help evacuate people.
The withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan can also be regarded as an important part of the Asia-Pacific strategy. This seems to be paradoxical. Washington uses the slogan of “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” to describe this strategy. The withdrawal is aimed at unleashing power that can be used elsewhere. Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong expressed the hope that this withdrawal will eventually have a positive impact on the strategic situation in Asia. “What is important after Afghanistan is how the United States will reposition itself in the Asia-Pacific region in the long run, intervene in a wider area and continue to fight terrorism.” This will also determine how the countries in the region will be aware of U.S. priorities and strategic intentions. , Li warned.
Calculate Vietnam
The exhilaration of Beijing’s response to the chaos in Afghanistan did not echo in Southeast Asia. Many countries welcome the fact that the United States wants to maintain a balance with China. In fact, despite everything that happened, the vice president managed to deliver this message. “The reason I am here is the global leadership of the United States. We take this role seriously,” said Harris of Singapore. She visited the USS Tulsa (USS Tulsa) at the Changi Naval Base in the eastern part of the city-state and emphasized this statement. On Tuesday, she will deliver a speech in Singapore, introducing the Biden administration’s strategic “vision” for the Indo-Pacific region.
After Singapore, this trip continues to Vietnam, Harris is the first US Vice President to visit. Vietnam, in all places, you can say. After all, the hurried withdrawal of Afghanistan in the past week is not without comparability with the withdrawal of the Americans at the end of the Vietnam War. On the other hand, Vietnam is also an example of the reconciliation of former enemies.
Vietnam and Singapore may be among the countries whose geostrategic interests in Southeast Asia are closest to those of the United States. For this reason, these countries were chosen for Harris visits instead of the Philippines and Thailand, although these countries, unlike Singapore and Vietnam, are official allies.
There are now rumors that the former enemies of Washington and Hanoi can even upgrade their relationship to a “strategic partnership.” For another reason, the region is also following developments in Afghanistan. Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said bluntly: “We hope that Afghanistan will not become the center of terrorism again.” Some of the most notorious Southeast Asian terrorists have learned their bloody tricks in Afghanistan. Jemaah Islamiyah, the terrorist organization responsible for the 2002 Bali attack that killed 202 people, was linked to Al Qaeda at the time. It is currently unpredictable whether such terrorist networks will make a comeback.
