During a speech made in Singapore on the first leg of a South East Asian tour, Ms Harris accused Beijing of coercion and intimidation in the South China Sea, which has been a regional flashpoint for years. She said the US would “stand with our allies in the face of threats”.
Ms Harris’ trip is seen as an attempt to reaffirm US commitment to the region.
Her speech which touched on a number of other issues, also mentioned the US pull-out from Afghanistan, where she insisted the decision was “courageous and right”. Vice President Kamala Harris pushed ahead with a trip to Vietnam on Tuesday after delaying the visit over concerns due to an unexplained health incident potentially related to the mysterious Havana Syndrome.
Harris, eager to woo allies in a bid to counter China, arrived in the Southeast Asian country’s capital after a three-hour delay in Singapore and an unusual statement from the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam blaming “a recent possible anomalous health incident” for the delay.
“Anomalous health incident” is a term often uses by US to describe Havana Syndrome, a condition with symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, migraines and memory lapses, so named because it first was reported by American officials based in the U.S. embassy in Cuba in 2016.
“The Vice President’s office was made aware of a report of a recent possible anomalous health incident in Hanoi, Vietnam,” the U.S. Embassy statement said.
