The leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the United States expanded joint security measures in Asia's trade-rich waters as outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden hosted counterparts from the Quad group formed over shared concerns about China.
Biden met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese near his home state of Delaware on Saturday, stressing the importance of maintaining the Quad talks, which he sees as A landmark foreign policy achievement. He will step down after the US presidential election on November 5.
The two leaders announced a joint Coast Guard operation next year that would see Australian, Japanese and Indian personnel aboard U.S. Coast Guard ships. Officials said the two countries plan to strengthen military logistics cooperation. They did not comment on where Coast Guard activities would take place.
The two leaders also plan to expand the Indo-Pacific Maritime Awareness Partnership launched two years ago.
Although the White House said the Quad summit was not targeted at any other country and that Beijing should not see anything wrong with the initiative, Biden opened the summit panel session with a briefing on China. In a joint statement that did not name the Chinese government, the leaders condemned “acts of coercion and intimidation in the South China Sea.”
Analysts said the new maritime security measures would send a message to Beijing and represent a further shift in the focus of Quad activities towards security issues, reflecting growing concerns about China's intentions.
Chinese President Xi Jinping opposes the Quad, which aims to encircle Beijing and escalate conflict.
Biden said Beijing was changing tactics, but not strategy, while continuing to test the United States in the South China Sea, East China Sea and Taiwan Strait.
“We believe that Xi Jinping is seeking to focus on domestic economic challenges, minimizing turbulence in diplomatic relations with China, and it seems to me that he is also seeking to win some diplomatic space for himself to aggressively pursue China's interests,” Biden said in his speech. Benefit.
Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, which includes territory claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. It also claims sovereignty over territories in the East China Sea disputed by Japan and Taiwan. China also regards democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory.
The leaders' joint statement included sharp words for North Korea, condemning its ballistic missile launches and “malicious cyber activities.” A U.S. official said both leaders expressed concerns about Russian military aid to North Korea.
The organization is stepping up efforts to provide critical and security technology, including new open radio access networks, to the Pacific Islands and Southeast Asia regions where competition with China is fierce.
A health initiative launched by leaders aims to fight cervical cancer.
Lisa Curtis, an Asia policy expert and former government official at the Center for a New American Security, said that India does not belong to any military alliance and has been worried about the perception that the Quad may militarize the Indo-Pacific region.
“But I think China's recent maritime aggression may change the situation in India and may prompt India to be more open to the idea of quadrilateral security cooperation,” she said.
Analysts and officials said Biden's hosting of the Quad talks is part of an effort to institutionalize the body before he leaves office, while Kishida is set to step down after next week's leadership race and next year's election in Australia.
Asked about the group's staying power, Biden grabbed Modi's shoulder and said the group was here to stay.
Albanese called the four-nation Coast Guard plan “very important” because “four countries could potentially have personnel on one ship, improving interoperability and cooperation,” according to a transcript of Albanese's news conference in Philadelphia. .
Ahead of the summit, Albanese met with Biden at his home to discuss bilateral cooperation between the two close allies in defense and security, including in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Quad, which was held at the foreign minister level under the previous administration of Donald Trump, who ran against Vice President Kamala Harris in November, received two Party support, reflected in the four-way Congressional Caucus formed before the summit. Biden elevates Quad to leadership in 2021.