Kamala Harris accuses China of intimidation in the South China Sea
Vice President says Beijing uses coercion and intimidation to back unlawful territorial claims.
The US Vice President, Kamala Harris, has accused China of using strong-arm tactics in the South China Sea to back up its claims to disputed territory and called the stand-off in the region “the biggest geopolitical test” of the century.
In a speech in Singapore she laid out an American vision for the region based on human rights and a rules-based international order.
“We know that Beijing continues to coerce, to intimidate and to make claims to the vast majority of the South China Sea,” Harris said in her speech.
The response to the vice president’s comments was swift. Wang Wenbin, China’s foreign ministry spokesman said the “order” the US seeks was one where it could “wilfully slander, oppress, coerce and bully other countries and not have to pay any price”.
