Harris Urges World to 'Raise the Pressure' on China Over South China Sea

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said the international community needs to “raise the pressure” on China over its widespread territorial claims over the South China Sea Wednesday, during a speech on her first day in Hanoi. 

Harris made the remarks in the Vietnamese capital ahead of a bilateral meeting with President Nguyen Xuan Phuc. “We need to find ways to pressure and raise the pressure on Beijing to abide by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea” — a reference to the U.N. treaty that establishes all maritime activities around the world — “and to challenge its bullying and excessive maritime claims.”  Harris’ use of the word “bullying” builds on accusations made earlier during a visit to Singapore Monday that China “continues to coerce, to intimidate and to make claims to the vast majority of the South China Sea.”