Kamala Harris heads to China’s backyard in diplomacy reboot

Kamala Harris' trip to Vietnam will mark the first time a sitting American vice president has visited since the war ended in 1975. - AP

WASHINGTON (Bloomberg): Vice President Kamala Harris will look to bolster economic and military cooperation in China’s backyard as she visits Singapore and Vietnam starting this weekend in the Biden administration’s most high-profile trip yet to Asia.

The White House has gone on the diplomatic offensive in South-East Asia after years of passive US engagement, recently sending top diplomats to the region along with Covid vaccines that have accounted for about a fifth of the 111.7 million doses it donated globally.