Palawan, Philippines
Cnn
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Vice President Kamala Harris is sticking to her script as she responds to what Democrats hope will as soon as once more be their largest electoral mobilizer: Donald Trump and his third White Home bid.
“The president has mentioned he intends to run and if he does, I’ll run with him,” she advised CNN Tuesday — the primary time she’s been requested about Trump’s 2024 candidacy, which she introduced final week. She was addressing a bunch of reporters aboard the Teresa Magbanua, a Philippine Coast Guard vessel stationed on the sting of the South China Sea.
His cautious response on the finish of a week-long gaffe-free journey to Thailand and the Philippines could function a mirrored image of Harris’ vice presidency in his sophomore 12 months: toe the road however not trigger a stir.
As she returns from Asia, she is caught in a maelstrom of uncertainty about her place within the occasion if the now 80-year-old President Joe Biden does not search a second time period. The president is anticipated to contemplate the choice about Thanksgiving and the upcoming holidays with the household, of which he’ll search recommendation on his re-election bid.
Harris’ journey to Asia – her third to the area since taking workplace – was one other likelihood for America’s South Asian first vp to indicate her capability to steer within the conventional methods of the vice presidency with out overstepping his function as no. 2.
Attended a collection of bilateral conferences and greetings with Asian prime ministers and presidents, together with Chinese language President Xi Jinping, referred to as last-minute high-profile assembly with Indo-Pacific international locations after North Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile hours earlier than the Asia-Pacific Financial Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ summit kicked off and made a symbolic go to to the Philippine archipelago island of Palawan, which may doubtlessly escalate tensions with the China.
With Biden in Washington, D.C., for his niece’s wedding ceremony, Harris continued his function as his high-ranking envoy on a visit meant to deepen ties with principally pleasant Asian nations and decide the USA as the very best area’s choice for financial stability – a part of an ongoing effort to counter China’s rising affect.
The vp referred to as the journey a hit, as she brandished her political expertise within the area, making an attempt to mildew herself as an in a position chief who speaks up for Biden in his absence.
“It is extremely essential that we’re right here immediately to revive the US dedication to worldwide guidelines and norms. This journey and this explicit go to was additionally meant to display the energy and significance of our relationship with the Philippines, each when it comes to financial and safety points,” Harris mentioned in Palawan, in a speech wherein he rejected China’s aggression within the South China Sea and introduced essential funding initiatives to strengthen the nation’s methods and deepen safety ties.
Nonetheless, Harris’ occasions have been tightly scripted and the journey itself, extremely choreographed.
Harris’ “transient greeting” with Xi, as his workplace described it, was his first face-to-face assembly with the world chief, which came about on the fringes of APEC. It was most likely the spotlight of Harris’ journey, regardless of the shortage of American press within the room to testify to it. The vp met with him only a week after Biden’s first in-person bilateral assembly with Xi, which lasted three hours.
However not like the president, who can share as a lot as he likes of a dialog, there was an apparent restrict to how snug Harris felt about sharing. He has repeatedly refused to go a lot additional than what’s written in a rigorously calculated assertion about his assembly with Xi.
“We have mentioned that we’re retaining strains of communication open, that we do not search battle or confrontation, however welcome competitors,” Harris advised reporters at a press convention concluding his journey to Thailand, dodging twice if that dialog touched her. North Korea. or Taiwan.
If the purpose was to remain gaffe-free, the planning appears to have paid off. The Republican Nationwide Committee solely clipped moments on Twitter that will have been embarrassing however did not lend themselves to actual criticism: uncommon remedy for one in all their most hooked up Democrats.
On the primary day of APEC, a “deeply involved” Harris rushed to convene a multilateral emergency assembly with out last-minute discover with allies within the Indo-Pacific area, in response to a senior administration official, after Korea of the North launched a long-range ballistics missile on Friday morning: its second spotlight of the journey.
Harris directed his staff as soon as it was briefed on the newest launch, a White Home official mentioned utilizing the Indo-Pacific nation’s presence on the APEC Leaders Summit to take action. On the head of a U-shaped desk inside a small room on the Queen Sirikit Nationwide Conference Middle, the vp accused North Korea of ”blatant violation of a number of United Nations safety resolutions”.
“This current conduct by North Korea is a blatant violation of a number of United Nations safety resolutions. It destabilizes safety within the area and unnecessarily will increase tensions. We strongly condemn these actions and re-call on North Korea to cease additional unlawful destabilization,” Harris mentioned. “On behalf of the USA, I reaffirmed our agency dedication to our Indo-Pacific Alliance.”
His assertion intently adopted one launched hours earlier by the Nationwide Safety Council on Biden’s behalf, nearly to the purpose.
The last-minute nature of the assembly meant that aides moved rapidly to spherical up the US press, however with no time to pre-set the cameras, press from the US, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Korea have been preventing for a angle, inflicting the photo-op photographs to look wobbly and askew at instances.
Nonetheless, it was a second that felt nearly presidential to Harris as he recalled the emergency in-person assembly Biden had referred to as with key allies on his final day on the G20 in Indonesia when a Russian-made missile fell contained in the borders of a NATO ally.
However the presidential stance had limits. Throughout the week-long journey, the vp answered politics and coverage questions on solely two separate events from the group of all feminine reporters who traveled along with her from Washington, answering two or three questions every time.
Harris did not shrink back from speaking factors in her responses, cautious to not transcend Biden’s stance on a mess of points.
Harris has lengthy sought alternatives to showcase his pursuits and create his personal lane as a younger vp with potential presidential ambitions.
On the nationwide stage, he assumed the management of the administration on abortion rights. And whereas touring overseas, Harris has advised aides that she needs to go outdoors the field in relation to the schedule. An enormous a part of that was assembly girls and households in several international locations.
That directive was evident in Manila when she participated in a moderated dialog about girls’s empowerment and entrepreneurship inside a ballroom on the Sofitel.
“On the problem of girls’s financial well-being, I feel everyone knows, and I really feel strongly, when you increase a girl’s financial standing, her household might be relieved. The neighborhood of her might be revoked,” Harris mentioned as Filipina girls nodded in settlement. “The entire society needs advantages. It raises the financial standing of girls and the entire society advantages”.
Within the Palawan fishing village of Tagburos, Harris watched as girls clear fish in opposition to a picturesque backdrop to talk to the devastation local weather change and unlawful fishing have had on the village.
“Hey ma’am,” they yelled as he approached. Harris’s translator launched girls as his finest buddies.
“Greatest buddies,” Harris mentioned, with amusing and a nod.
