Leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the United States hosted leaders of the Quad group, established by outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden over shared concerns about China, to expand joint security measures in Asia’s trade-bustling waters.
Biden, who is due to step down after the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election, stressed the importance of maintaining the Quad, which he sees as a signature foreign policy achievement, during talks with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese near his home state of Delaware on Saturday.
The leaders announced that personnel from Australia, Japan and India would conduct joint coastal patrols aboard U.S. Coast Guard ships next year as the two countries plan to step up military logistics cooperation, officials said. They did not comment on where the coastal patrols would take place.
The two leaders also planned to expand the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness, which was launched two years ago.
While the White House said the Quad summit was not aimed at any other country and Beijing should have no problem with the initiative, President Biden began the group session of the summit with a briefing on China. In a joint statement that did not name Beijing, the leaders condemned “coercive and threatening actions in the South China Sea.”
Analysts said the new maritime security effort sends a message to Beijing and signals a greater shift in the focus of Quad activities towards security issues, reflecting growing concerns about Chinese intentions.
Chinese President Xi Jinping opposes the formation of the Quad, calling it an attempt to encircle Beijing and intensify conflict.
Biden said China has changed its tactics but not its strategy as it continues to test the United States in the South China Sea, East China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
“We believe President Xi is focused on his domestic economic challenges and seeking to minimize disruption to our foreign relations with China. And I believe he is seeking to buy himself diplomatic space to aggressively pursue China’s interests,” Biden said in an official event feed.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, which is also claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam, as well as the East China Sea, which is disputed by Japan and Taiwan. China also considers democratically ruled Taiwan to be its own territory.
The leaders’ joint statement contained tough language about North Korea, condemning ballistic missile launches and “malicious cyber activities,” and a U.S. official said the leaders shared concerns about Russian military support for North Korea.
The group is stepping up efforts to provide critical security technologies, including new open wireless access networks, to the Pacific islands and Southeast Asia regions, where competition from China is intense.
The Leaders’ Health Initiative aims to combat cervical cancer.
Lisa Curtis, an Asia policy expert at the Center for a New American Security and a former administration official, said India, which is not part of any military alliance, is concerned about the perception that the Quad could lead to the militarization of the Indo-Pacific region.
“But I think China’s recent maritime aggression may change the game for India and trigger India to be a little more open to the idea of ​​Quad security cooperation,” she said.
Analysts and officials say Biden’s hosting of the Quad is part of an effort to institutionalize it ahead of his own departure from office, Kishida’s departure after next week’s party leadership election and next year’s Australian election.
Asked about the group’s staying power, Biden grabbed Modi’s shoulder and said the group would survive.
According to a transcript of a press conference in Philadelphia, Albanese said the QUAD coast guard plan was “very important” and that “having four nations possibly manning one vessel will increase interoperability and cooperation.”
Ahead of the summit, Albanese met Biden at his home and discussed bilateral cooperation between the two close allies in the areas of defence and security, including in the Indo-Pacific region.
Under the administration of former President Donald Trump, who faces Vice President Kamala Harris in November, the Quad met at the foreign ministers’ level and enjoyed bipartisan support, as evidenced by the formation of a Quad caucus in Congress ahead of the summit. Biden elevated the Quad to the leaders’ level in 2021.