NEW YORK: US Vice-President Kamala Harris, the first woman to deliver a commencement speech at West Point, lauded graduating cadets Saturday for their noble sacrifice in serving their country, but noted they were entering an “unsettled world” because of Russian aggression and the rising threats from China.
“The world has drastically changed,” Harris told the roughly 950 graduating cadets. She referred to the global pandemic that took millions of lives, as well as the fraught shifts in global politics in Europe and in Asia. As the US ended two decades of war in Afghanistan, the longest in the country’s history, the vice president said, Russia soon launched the first major ground war in Europe since World War II when it invaded Ukraine. She advised cadets to be wary of China, as it rapidly modernises its military and muscles for control over parts of the high seas, ostensibly referring to the brewing disputes over the South China Sea.
“The world has drastically changed,” Harris told the roughly 950 graduating cadets. She referred to the global pandemic that took millions of lives, as well as the fraught shifts in global politics in Europe and in Asia. As the US ended two decades of war in Afghanistan, the longest in the country’s history, the vice president said, Russia soon launched the first major ground war in Europe since World War II when it invaded Ukraine. She advised cadets to be wary of China, as it rapidly modernises its military and muscles for control over parts of the high seas, ostensibly referring to the brewing disputes over the South China Sea.