新加坡——美国副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯周一坚称，美国必须继续关注撤离美国人和易受伤害的阿富汗人，不应该因为美国从阿富汗混乱的撤离中出了什么问题而分心。
在新加坡的一次新闻发布会上，当被问及她认为在撤军中应该采取什么不同的措施时，哈里斯一再拒绝参与。
她说:“毫无疑问，将会而且应该对已经发生的事情进行有力的分析，但现在毫无疑问，我们的重点必须放在疏散美国公民、与我们一起工作的阿富汗人以及包括妇女和儿童在内的弱势阿富汗人身上。
哈里斯与新加坡总理李显龙一起接受了提问，此前两人会晤了约两个小时，讨论了从新冠肺炎回应到网络安全和供应链合作等问题。新闻发布会由阿富汗主导，此前美国混乱的撤军引发了人们对美国对其全球盟友承诺的担忧。
哈里斯访问新加坡和越南本周被视为对拜登政府向关键盟友保证其决心的能力的第一次真正考验。
然而，李总理表示，新加坡支持美国的撤军决定，并表示新加坡“感谢”美国在阿富汗打击恐怖主义的努力。他还向美国提议使用新加坡空军的运输机来帮助撤离，并表示该国现在正在观察美国下一步的行动。
他说:“重要的是美国如何重新定位自己在亚太地区的位置，如何接触更广泛的地区，如何继续打击恐怖主义，因为这将决定各国对美国全球优先事项及其战略意图的看法。”。
哈里斯的东南亚之行旨在扩大与两国的合作，为中国在该地区日益增长的影响力提供一个平衡。她将于本周晚些时候访问新加坡，然后访问越南。
周一，副总统办公室宣布了一系列与新加坡的新协议，旨在应对网络威胁、应对气候变化、应对新冠肺炎大流行和缓解供应链问题。
在网络安全方面，财政部和国防部以及网络安全和基础设施安全局分别与新加坡对口部门签署了一份谅解备忘录，扩大信息共享和培训，以应对网络威胁。
两国同意更加紧密地合作，追踪新冠肺炎变种并参与研究冠状病毒治疗。商务部正与新加坡贸易和工业部合作，建立一种伙伴关系，致力于加强几个关键行业的贸易。
白宫宣布了两国之间的额外协议，以促进在太空探索和国防问题上的合作。这些声明是在哈里斯星期一会见新加坡总统哈莉玛·雅各布和总理李之后发布的。
周一晚些时候，哈里斯在新加坡樟宜海军基地对一艘美国海军战斗舰上的水手发表讲话，对美国士兵和大使馆工作人员在“难以置信的挑战和危险环境”中撤离阿富汗表示感谢。
周二，哈里斯将发表演讲，概述拜登政府对该地区的愿景，并与商界领袖会面，讨论供应链问题。哈里斯在樟宜海军基地发表讲话时，似乎在预演她周二的演讲，称印度-太平洋地区“对美国的安全和繁荣至关重要。”
“我确实相信，21世纪的大部分历史将写在你们现在服务的这个地区。我们希望成为那些帮助塑造和主宰那段历史的人。
此行标志着哈里斯在任期间的第二次出访——她于6月访问了危地马拉和墨西哥——这也将是美国副总统首次访问越南。
新加坡是美国海军在东南亚的基地，与美国有着深厚的贸易伙伴关系，但在美中关系日益冷淡的情况下，该国也寻求与中国保持牢固的关系和中立的立场。
在拜登的前任唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)执政期间，美中关系急剧恶化，双方在包括技术、网络安全和人权在内的一系列问题上仍存在分歧。
美国国务卿安东尼·布林肯和美国国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀首次出访日韩。奥斯汀上个月前往新加坡、越南和菲律宾，并誓言美国将支持北京方面在南中国海的入侵。
美国-东盟商务委员会(US-ASEAN Business Council)主席兼首席执行官亚历山大·费尔德曼(Alexander Feldman)表示，哈里斯在与新加坡领导人的对话中必须小心谨慎，不要过于关注中国，而是要强调美国与新加坡和越南之间积极、富有成效的关系。
“她可能陷入陷阱的地方，实际上是试图将此作为美中之旅。这应该是美国对东南亚朋友和伙伴的访问，”费尔德曼说。
他说，如果中国成为主要焦点，“那将使我们的朋友更难在整个地区向前迈进，不仅是在新加坡和越南，而且在其他地区。”
事实上，新加坡外交部长维维安·巴拉克里什南(Vivian Balakrishnan)在最近的一次采访中表示，新加坡在与两国的关系中“将是有用的，但我们不会被利用”，该国总理此前警告美国不要对中国采取侵略性的做法。
然而，北京抓住了哈里斯此行的机会，中国官方的新华社周六发表了一篇社论，将此次访问描述为遏制中国的一部分。
拜登高级官员对东南亚的访问旨在“拉拢这些国家，形成一个遏制中国的环。但是东南亚国家不愿意在中国和美国之间选择立场，美国的‘一厢情愿的计划’将以失败告终，”新华社说。
社论说，美国的做法是基于“过时的冷战思维，意在挑起与中国关系的麻烦，制造分裂和对抗，并试图制造一个遏制圈”。
US VP Harris: Focus must stay on Afghan evacuation
SINGAPORE -- Vice President Kamala Harris asserted Monday that the U.S. must maintain its focus on evacuating Americans and vulnerable Afghans and shouldn’t get distracted by questions over what went wrong in the chaotic U.S. exit from Afghanistan.
Speaking at a news conference in Singapore, Harris repeatedly declined to engage when asked what she felt should have been done differently in the withdrawal.
“There’s no question there will be and should be a robust analysis of what has happened, but right now there’s no question that our focus has to be on evacuating American citizens, Afghans who worked with us and vulnerable Afghans, including women and children,” she said.
Harris took questions alongside Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong after the two met for about two hours to discuss issues ranging from the COVID-19 response to cybersecurity and supply chain cooperation. The news conference was dominated by Afghanistan, after the messy U.S. withdrawal sparked concerns about America’s commitments to its allies globally.
Harris’ visit to Singapore andVietnamthis week is seen as the first real test of the Biden administration’s ability to reassure key allies of its resolve.
Prime Minister Lee offered his country’s support for the U.S. decision to withdraw, however, and said Singapore was “grateful” for the U.S. efforts to combat terrorism in Afghanistan. He also offered the U.S. the use of the Singapore Air Force’s transport aircraft to help with the evacuation, and said the country is now watching what the U.S. does next.
“What matters is how the U.S. repositions itself in the Asia Pacific, engages the broader region and continues to fight against terrorism, because that will determine the perceptions of the countries of the U.S.′ global priorities and of its strategic intentions,” he said.
Harris’ Southeast Asian trip, which brings her to Singapore and then later to Vietnam this week, is aimed at broadening cooperation with both nations to offer a counterweight to China’s growing influence in the region.
On Monday, the vice president’s office announced a series of new agreements with Singapore aimed at combating cyberthreats, tackling climate change, addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and alleviating supply chain issues.
On cybersecurity, the Treasury and Defense Departments, as well as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, have each inked a memorandum of understanding with their Singapore counterparts expanding information sharing and training to combat cyberthreats.
The two nations agreed to cooperate more closely to track COVID-19 variants and engage in research oncoronavirustreatments. And the Department of Commerce is joining with the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry to create a partnership focused on strengthening trade throughout a handful of key industries.
The White House announced additional agreements between the two nations fostering cooperation on space exploration and defense issues as well. The announcements came Monday after Harris met with Singapore President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee.
Later Monday, speaking to sailors on a U.S. Navy combat ship at Singapore’s Changi naval base, Harris expressed gratitude for the U.S. soldiers and embassy staff working in an “incredibly challenging and dangerous environment” to evacuate Afghanistan.
On Tuesday, Harris will deliver a speech outlining the Biden administration’s vision for the region, and meet with business leaders to discuss supply chain issues. During her remarks at Changi naval base, Harris seemed to preview her Tuesday speech, describing the Indo-Pacific region as “critical to the security and prosperity of the United States.”
"I do believe a big part of the history of the 21st century will be written about this very region where you now serve. And we want to be the ones who are helping to shape and dictate that history," she said.
The trip marks Harris’ second foreign trip in office — she visited Guatemala and Mexico in June — and will be the first time a U.S. vice president has visited Vietnam.
Singapore is the anchor of the U.S. naval presence in Southeast Asia and has a deep trade partnership with the U.S., but the country also seeks to maintain strong ties with China and a position of neutrality amid increasingly frosty U.S.-China relations.
Relations between the U.S. and China deteriorated sharply under Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, and the two sides remain at odds over a host of issues including technology, cybersecurity and human rights.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made their first overseas trips to Japan and South Korea. Austin traveled to Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines last month and vowed U.S. support against Beijing’s intrusions in the South China Sea.
Alexander Feldman, president and CEO of the US-ASEAN Business Council, said Harris will have to be careful in her conversations with Singapore’s leaders not to focus too heavily on China, but to emphasize a positive, productive U.S. relationship with Singapore and Vietnam.
“Where she could fall into a trap is really trying to pit this as a U.S. versus China trip. It should be a U.S. trip to our friends and partners in Southeast Asia,” Feldman said.
If China becomes the main focal point, he said, “that makes it harder for our friends to move forward across the region, not only in Singapore and Vietnam but beyond that.”
Indeed, Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said in a recent interview that Singapore will “be useful but we will not be made use of” in its relations with both countries, and the nation’s prime minister previously warned the U.S. against pursuing an aggressive approach to China.
Beijing, however, has seized on Harris’ trip, with China’s official Xinhua News Agency issuing an editorial Saturday on the visit portraying it as part of a drive to contain China.
Visits to Southeast Asia by senior Biden officials are aiming to “woo these countries to form a ring of containment against China. But Southeast Asian countries are reluctant to choose sides between China and the United States, and America’s ‘wishful plan’ will end in failure,” Xinhua said.
The U.S. approach is based on “outdated Cold War thinking and is intended to provoke troubles in their relations with China, create division and confrontation, and try to create a ring of containment,” the editorial said.
