HARRIS AGAIN CRITICISES ROLE OF BEIJING IN SOUTH CHINA SEA ON ASIA TOUR

HANOI: Vice-president Kamala Harris said on Wednesday the US would find new ways to “raise the pressure on Beijing”, accusing China of bullying in hotly disputed Asian waters for the second time in two days.

Harris made the comments as she began a visit to Vietnam to stress US commitment to Asia, a trip critics have slammed as tone-deaf given the parallels with the superpower’s evacuations from Saigon and Kabul.

During a meeting with Vietnam President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Harris said the US would continue to challenge Beijing’s “bullying and excessive maritime claims” in the South China Sea. During the Singapore leg of her regional trip on Tuesday, Harris also accused China of intimidation in the waterway.

China hit back at the accusations through its state media on Wednesday, accusing the US of hypocrisy in attempting to “coerce and intimidate” countries in the region in its “scheme to contain China”.

Harris’ arrival in Vietnam was delayed due to what US officials called an “anomalous health incident” in Hanoi, an apparent reference to the so-called Havana syndrome which has afflicted US diplomats in several countries like China and Russia.

The Vietnam leg of the Asian tour has sparked criticism after the chaotic evacuation of Kabul prompted comparisons with the trauma of 1975 Saigon, when US helicopters ferried final evacuees from the embassy roof in the last days of the Vietnam War.

Harris is steering clear of both Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, instead emphasising Washington’s commitment to the region as she opened a branch of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Hanoi.

We need to find ways to raise the pressure... on Beijing to abide by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. KAMALA HARRIS, US Veep