US Vice President Kamala Harris meets Singapore officials to kickstart Asia visit

Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States is on a visit to Singapore, just days after the Taliban seized Afghanistan's capital Kabul. 

She also took part in a roundtable discussion with business leaders on supply chain issues on Tuesday during her trip to Singapore. While talking about the climate crisis at the discussion she said, "The stories that we are now hearing about the caution that if you want to have Christmas toys for your children, it might now be might be the time to start buying them, because the delay may be many, many months. So across the board, people are experiencing the issue. And, of course, the climate crisis is fueling a lot of this. When we look at the stronger typhoons that have disrupted shipping lanes and sea-level rise, which threatens port infrastructure as an example. So these are the many issues that are causing these disruptions."

Adding to it, she said, "Just the fact that the global demand for the products and goods that are produced in our supply chains is greater in many ways than the supply. And in that way, it is our perspective that when we look at the disruption to the supply chain, this is an issue that requires all nations and in particular, nations that are in partnership and allied that we work together to coordinate, understanding that no one of us can actually produce or satisfy the demand."

Harris meets Singapore President Halimah Yacob & PM Lee Hsien Loong

During the meeting, the vice president highlighted the link between disruption to shipping lanes and climate change. "The climate crisis is fueling a lot of this. When we look at the stronger typhoons that have disrupted shipping lanes and sea-level rise, which has threatened port infrastructure as an example," she said.

Harris had met Monday with Singapore President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The vice president’s office announced a number of agreements out of that meeting aimed at combating cyberthreats, tackling climate change, addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and alleviating supply chain issues.

After her visit to Singapore, Harris is scheduled to travel to Vietnam, where she’ll meet with top officials on Wednesday.