In Southeast Asia, Kamala Harris’s Message: You Can Count on the U.S.

Initially meant to bolster economic and security ties with key partners in Singapore and Vietnam, Kamala Harris’s overseas trip to these destinations became the Biden administration’s first test of reassuring the nations in the South China Sea of its credibility as a trusted international partner in the sudden wake of the haphazard withdrawal from Afghanistan. Many nations feared that the U.S. would abandon them and quickly withdraw troops from Southeast Asia if another power or internal entity usurped the existing governments, as it did when the Taliban took control in Afghanistan. Parallels have been drawn between the evacuation of American citizens from Saigon in 1975 and the situation in Kabul today – leaving behind desperate Vietnamese/Afghan locals to clean up the mess that the superpower made.

While Chinese officials have spoken out against the U.S.’s actions in response to the situation, Harris and other officials are seeking neutrality, not support, from other nations. As Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, stated, “What is happening in Afghanistan now clearly tells people what rules are touted by the United States and what is the so-called order of the United States. The US always tries to use rules and order to justify its selfishness and bullying, but now how many people will believe it?” Additionally, Curtis S. Chin, the former US ambassador to the Asian Development Bank (2007 – 2011), made a statement about how “the reality of US behavior undercuts the rhetoric of US behavior … rhetoric and reality often do not match.” Amidst the growing doubt against both China and the United States, countries such as Singapore and Vietnam must proceed with utmost caution.