U.S. has no strategy for SE Asia but pushes opposition to China instead: British writer

MOSCOW, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris's upcoming Southeast Asian trip will accomplish nothing as Washington has no economic strategy for the region but pushes opposition to China instead, British writer Tom Fowdy has said in a recent article published on RT.

He said that the vice president's visit to the region scheduled later this month came amid U.S. attempts to militarize the region through coordinating with other powers such as Japan, Britain and Australia.

Fowdy believed that in many ways, the legacy of recent U.S. policies in the area has been "self-defeating" and the political space that the Biden administration has to turn it around is limited.

In his view, the biggest gaping hole in America's strategy towards Southeast Asian countries is failing to offer them an economic incentive to oppose China, and Washington has no ability to economically compete with Beijing in the region.

"China is increasingly integrating itself with the region on an economic level, which local parties welcome, but the United States is not," Fowdy said.