Harris rebukes China in speech on Indo-Pacific vision

By ALEXANDRA JAFFE
Associated Press

HANOI (AP) — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has delivered a sharp rebuke to China for its incursions in the South China Sea, warning its actions there amount to “coercion” and “intimidation” and affirming that the U.S. will support its allies in the region against Beijing’s advances. The Biden administration is seeking to further solidify its pivot toward Asia while America’s decades-long focus on the Middle East comes to a messy end with the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. Harris is on a weeklong swing through Southeast Asia. Her trip to her next stop in Vietnam was delayed several hours due to an investigation into a possible incident of the “Havana Syndrome” _ a mysterious health ailment plaguing U.S. diplomats _ in Hanoi.