The leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the United States announced plans for new security initiatives in the Indian Ocean on Saturday as the US president stepped down. Joe Biden It hosts colleagues from the Quad group, which is based on shared concerns about China.
Biden welcomed Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a quadrilateral meeting near his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, and emphasized the importance of maintaining the Quad, which he sees as a signature foreign policy. achievement, before he steps down in January.
Senior officials of the Biden administration told reporters before the meeting that the leaders will announce plans to expand cooperation. Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Information, launched two years ago to cover the Indian Ocean region.
The leaders unveiled a plan for joint coast guard operations that will see Australian, Japanese and Indian personnel spend time on board a US Coast Guard ship. The countries also announced plans to increase cooperation in the field of military logistics.
Authorities before the meeting said the leaders would step up work to provide critical and security technologies, including a new open radio access network, to the Pacific Islands and Southeast Asia, regions of intense competition with China, Washington’s main strategic rival.
The health initiative emphasized collaboration the fight against cervical cancer also.
Analysts said the expected results will largely build on the work already done under Biden’s Quad. It reached its peak in 2021. Saturday’s meet will be the sixth leading meet of the Quad.
Journalists were given access to the leaders’ initial remarks ahead of Saturday’s meeting. However, after journalists were asked to leave, the officials were briefly caught on hot mics discussing China, which was meant for a private meeting.
“Our first topic of discussion is China,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after sending reporters off.
Minutes later, Biden said: “We believe that Xi Jinping wants to focus on domestic economic problems and minimize confusion in Chinese diplomatic relations. He also, in my opinion, wants to buy diplomatic space to aggressively pursue China’s interests.”
“China continues to be aggressive, testing us throughout the region. This is true in the South China Sea, East China Sea, South China, South Asia and the Taiwan Strait,” Biden continued. “This is true in the scope of our relations, including economic and technological issues. At the same time, we believe that intense competition requires intense diplomacy.”
The president also pointed to a phone call earlier this year with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as well as national security adviser Jake Sullivan. A trip to China added this summer that “we consider this relationship essential for conflict prevention and crisis management in the context of our strategic competition.”
The hot mic comments about China came after Sullivan was asked earlier on Saturday whether the four leaders would focus on China.
“Quad doesn’t really belong to any other country. It’s not aimed at another country,” Sullivan told reporters. “It is focused on solving problems, defending a common set of principles and a common vision for the region.”
“So I don’t think you should expect any particular country, including the PRC, to be singled out in the statement of the Quad leaders,” he continued, using the abbreviation for the People’s Republic of China.
Analysts said the new maritime security initiatives come as China steps up pressure on it territorial rivals in the south and East China Seas He would send a message to Beijing.
They said it would also represent a shift in emphasis from the Quad’s activities to security concerns, reflecting growing concern about China’s intentions.
Lisa Curtis, an Asia policy expert at the Center for a New American Security who previously worked at the White House, the CIA and the State Department, said India, which is not part of any military alliance, was troubled by the idea that the Quad might be. militarized the Indo-Pacific.
“But I think China’s recent maritime aggression could change the equation for India and push India to be a little more open to the idea of Quad security cooperation,” he said.
Analysts and officials say Biden’s hosting of the Quad is part of an effort to institutionalize the body before he leaves office, as well as Kishida, who resigned shortly after. leadership competition next weekand elections in Australia next year.
“We look forward to this Quad summit … to demonstrate that the Quad partners are more strategically aligned than ever before, that they are committed to putting real resources behind this effort to provide public goods for the Indo-Pacific, and most importantly, that the Quad is here to stay,” said a senior U.S. official.
The official noted that Quade met in November at the secretary of state level during the previous administration of Donald Trump, who ran against Vice President Kamala Harris, and received bipartisan support. the congressional Quadruple Caucus before the summit.
Albanese told reporters on Thursday that Canberra and Washington shared concerns about China’s security ambitions in the Pacific island nation, where Beijing is seeking an increased policing role.
“We will discuss ways we can provide additional support to developing countries in the region, including our joint actions on climate change and supporting their energy security,” he said.