US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Quad nation counterparts seemed to use a public appearance to reassure China the grouping was not a security union seeking to force countries in Asia to choose between them and Beijing.
(Bloomberg) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Quad nation counterparts seemed to use a public appearance to reassure China the grouping was not a security union seeking to force countries in Asia to choose between them and Beijing.
“This is not a military grouping, it’s not that kind of alliance,” Blinken said on Friday at a panel discussion in New Delhi, where he and the other Quad foreign ministers of Australia, Japan and India had gathered for a Group of 20 meeting. He added it was instead aimed at “very practical projects” to benefit the region.
Despite the softer stance at the public event, the group’s joint statement, which did not mention China by name, still contained firm language aimed at Beijing.
The statement said it strongly opposes “unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo or increase tensions” in the South and East China Seas. The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, as the discussions are formally known, also expressed serious concern about the “militarization” of regional islands and reefs — which were references to Chinese military activity in the region.
The Quad in recent years has been seen as a counter to China’s assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific. Beijing has criticized the group as a “clique” that could stoke a new Cold War.
The statement mentioned the Quad stands for “sustainable, transparent and fair lending and financing practices” and “freedom of navigation and overflight” — echoing long-standing US criticism of Chinese foreign policy.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi followed Blinken in saying the group was “not for security issues, nor military issues,” and made one of the only direct references to China in the rare public appearance of all four Quad foreign ministers.
“As long as even China abides by the rules of the international norms and also acts under the international institutions, standards and rules, then this is not a conflicting issues between China and the Quad,” Hayashi said.
Read: Japan Foreign Minister Set to Attend Quad Talks Hosted by India
Still, the foreign ministers spent much of the public discussion — which followed the G-20 meeting on Thursday — arguing the Quad was aimed more at practical solutions such as Covid-19 vaccine distribution in the region.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar pointed to the group’s origins in responding to the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong also said the group was focused on “practical cooperation” among members as they work on development initiatives in various countries across Asia.
Blinken, asked about whether the US had been distracted from priorities in Asia by Russia’s war in Ukraine, also stressed that Washington remained engaged in part through the Quad with other countries in the region.
“Virtually none of the challenges that our people are facing, and that people around the world are facing, can be effectively dealt with by any one country acting alone — whether it’s the United States, whether it’s India, whether it’s Japan, whether it’s Australia,” Blinken said.
“Not only are we not distracted, on the contrary, we’re more deeply engaged than ever — and the Quad is one of the most critical vehicles for that engagement,” he said.
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