US, China accuse each other of "bullying" nations

US Vice President Kamala Harris (L) and Vietnam's President Nguyen Xuan Phuc pose for a photograph i

US Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday again charged China with bullying its Southeast Asian neighbours, the second time in two days she has attacked Beijing during a regional visit aimed at countering China's growing influence. Earlier on Wednesday, Chinese state media accused Harris of seeking to drive a wedge between China and Southeast Asian nations with comments in Singapore that Beijing used coercion and intimidation to back its unlawful South China Sea claims. Speaking in Hanoi on Wednesday, Harris said there was a need to increase pressure on Beijing over its maritime claims. "We need to find ways to pressure, raise the pressure…on Beijing to abide by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and to challenge, its bullying and excessive maritime claims," said Harris during a meeting with Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc.