New US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has held his initial virtual meeting because President Joe Biden’s election with counterparts from Japan, India and Australia, displaying assistance for the so-known as Quad grouping that seeks to counter an increasingly assertive China in the Indo-Pacific.
The talks, held Thursday Washington time, integrated discussions on “the priority of strengthening democratic resilience in the broader region,” Blinken’s spokesperson Ned Price mentioned in a statement. The partners also pledged “to strengthen cooperation on advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific region, including support for freedom of navigation and territorial integrity.”
The meeting signals the Quad, revived in 2017 as a buffer against Beijing, remains a powerful concentrate for the 4 nations, which individually have had conflicts with China in current years. They vowed to hold a ministerial-level Quad meeting at least as soon as a year, as properly as standard talks at senior and working levels.
The Quad grouping, which became elevated below the Trump administration, has been admonished by China as a “clique” that could stoke a new Cold War. While some observers had anticipated a ratcheting down of US-China tensions below Biden, the initial handful of weeks of his administration have not offered any indication of a softening of safety policies in Asia.
After the meeting, the foreign ministers of all 4 nations issued statements lauding progress in their discussions. Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi mentioned they had welcomed the truth “that this meeting was realized in the early days of the Biden administration.”
Motegi also expressed “serious concern” about China’s Coast Guard Law, and the 4 ministers pledged to oppose “unilateral and forceful attempts to change the status quo” in the East and South China Sea, according to the statement.
Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar mentioned the meeting “noted that the Indo-Pacific concept had gathered growing international support, including in Europe.”
In her statement, Australia Foreign Minister Marise Payne mentioned the Quad “is a key pillar of Australia’s international agenda, bringing together four like-minded democracies committed to respecting and upholding international rules and obligations.”
Along with safety, the partners addressed co-operation on the response to the pandemic and tackling climate modify. The ministers also discussed countering disinformation, counter-terrorism, maritime safety, and the urgent need to have to restore the democratically elected government in Myanmar, according to Blinken’s statement.
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