American Vice President Kamala Harris's first trip to Asia since taking office was planned long before the recent events in Afghanistan.

The visit this week to the city-state of Singapore and Vietnam should give the impression that America is still committed to the region, given the increasing strategic competition with China.

Harris wanted to show that, after Donald Trump was voted out of office, Asia again had a reliable partner in Washington.

Till Fähnders

Political Correspondent for Southeast Asia.

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But the crisis in Afghanistan is now casting doubts about this reliability.

The images of the return of the Taliban and the chaos at Kabul airport are also followed with horror in Southeast Asia.

Now the Vice President has to face the question of how tenable are the guarantees of protection given by the Americans to their allies in the region.

"Robust Analysis"

In a press conference with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday, China even appeared only marginally. Instead, the conversation with the journalists was mostly about Afghanistan. The Vice President avoided the question of whether mistakes had been made in Afghanistan. It only announced a "robust analysis" of the events for a later date. The focus is currently on evacuations, with which Americans, their Afghan aid workers and Afghans who are particularly at risk are to be taken out of the country. For his part, Lee expressed understanding for the American withdrawal. He mentioned Singapore's involvement, which had been involved in the international operation for a while with its own soldiers. Singapore also offered to help with the evacuations with military transports.

It seems almost paradoxical that the withdrawal from Afghanistan can also be seen as an important component of the Asia strategy, which in Washington is described with the catchphrase of the “free and open Indo-Pacific”.

The withdrawal is intended to release forces that can then be used elsewhere.

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee expressed the expectation that the withdrawal should ultimately have a positive effect on the strategic situation in Asia.

"What matters after Afghanistan is, in the longer term, how the US repositions itself in the Asia-Pacific region, gets involved in the wider region and continues the fight against terrorism." This will also determine how the countries in the region will Be aware of America's priorities and strategic intentions, Lee warned.

Vietnam, of all places

The glee with which Beijing is responding to the chaos in Afghanistan has no echo in Southeast Asia. Many countries welcome the fact that America wants to remain in balance with China's power. Indeed, the Vice President managed to get that message across, despite everything. “The reason I'm here is America's global leadership. And we take this role seriously, ”said Harris in Singapore. She underlined the statement with a visit to the American naval ship USS Tulsa at the naval base in Changi in the east of the city-state. On Tuesday, in a speech in Singapore, she will present the Biden government's strategic “vision” for the Indo-Pacific.

Following Singapore, the trip continues to Vietnam, which Harris is the first American Vice President to visit.

Vietnam, of all places, you could say.

After all, there has been no lack of comparisons in the past week between the hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan and the former departure of the Americans at the end of the Vietnam War.

On the other hand, Vietnam also stands as an example of the rapprochement of former enemies.

Vietnam, along with Singapore, is probably one of the countries in Southeast Asia whose geostrategic interests most closely match those of America.

For this reason, these countries were chosen for the Harris visit and not the Philippines and Thailand, although these countries, unlike Singapore and Vietnam, are formally allies.

It is now rumored that the former enemies in Washington and Hanoi could even upgrade their relations to a “strategic partnership”. The region is also watching developments in Afghanistan with concern for another reason. Singapore Prime Minister Lee addressed this directly: "We hope Afghanistan does not become the epicenter of terrorism again." Some of the most notorious Southeast Asian terrorists had once learned their bloody craft in Afghanistan. The terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah, which was responsible, among other things, for the attack on Bali that killed 202 people in 2002, had contacts with al-Qaida at the time. At the moment it cannot be foreseen whether such terrorist networks could also return.