SINGAPORE: Vice President Kamala Harris began a trip to Asia on Sunday where she will offer reassurances of Washington’s commitment to the region after the chaotic US pullout from Afghanistan and Taliban takeover.“The vice president will make clear throughout the trip that we do have an enduring commitment to the region,” said a senior US official.

Harris, an Asian-American whose mother was of Indian origin, landed in Singapore Sunday and will start her activities on Monday by meeting the city-state’s leaders.

The Vietnam leg has sparked criticism, with some accusing Harris of being tone-deaf for visiting the communist country as US forces struggle to evacuate Americans, other foreigners and Afghan allies from Kabul airport.

The crisis has prompted comparisons with the trauma of 1975 Saigon, when US helicopters ferried final evacuees from the embassy roof, as Viet Cong troops advanced.

US officials say the trip was planned long before the Afghan debacle, however — and insist Harris is focused on Washington’s broader strategic goals in Asia. It is the latest visit by a top US official to the region, as President Joe Biden’s administration looks to build alliances against China and reset relations after the turbulent Donald Trump presidency. At a time when China is challenging US political sway and naval dominance in the Indo-Pacific region, Southeast Asia remains “strategically important and economically important to this country”, said a White House official, who asked not to be named.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2021