Quad alliance diplomats stress 'adherence to international law' but don't mention China
Top diplomats from the burgeoning, informal alliance known as the Quad met in Australia on Friday and reaffirmed their commitment to a "free, open and inclusive rules-based order" in the Pacific without mentioning China by name.
"We oppose coercive economic policies and practices that run counter to this system and will work collectively to foster global economic resilience against such actions," said a joint statement from the foreign ministers of Australia, India, Japan and the United States.
"We reiterate the importance of adherence to international law," particularly in the East and South China Seas, they said.
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The Quad meeting comes as the four partners have seen their respective relations with Beijing worsen over a wide range of issues, including territorial disputes, human rights and the origins of the coronavirus in China.
Although there was little new in the statement, the meeting appeared designed to underscore the importance of the alliance, of showing up and making progress in the "pivot" to Asia, even in the face of pressing global events.
The in-person summit comes as Washington remains consumed by the growing crisis between Ukraine and Russia, with US officials warning that Moscow may be preparing to invade its neighbour.
Analysts have questioned whether the US can successfully manage multiple major crises on different sides of the globe at the same time, with some warning that China could try to take advantage of a war in Europe to attack Taiwan, the self-governed island that Beijing considers its own territory.
At a US State Department briefing on Monday, spokesman Ned Price was asked if Secretary of State Antony Blinken had considered cancelling the trip because of the situation in Ukraine.
"We are capable of - not to use an overused metaphor - but of walking and chewing gum at the same time," Price said.
He said Blinken would focus on Ukraine "to a large degree" during his trip across the Pacific, which will also take him to the South Pacific island nation of Fiji and then to Hawaii, where he will meet with Japan and South Korea's foreign ministers.
"There are a few other things going on in the world right now, as some of you may have noticed, that are really challenging - Ukraine and Russia's aggression toward Ukraine - and we're working 24/7 on that," Blinken told US embassy staff in Australia on Thursday.
"But we know, the president knows, and each of you knows this better than anyone else, that so much of this century is going to be shaped by what happens here in the Indo-Pacific region," he said.
At the same time, Washington has tried to emphasise that the bloc does not exist simply as a counter to China, but rather is a group of democracies joining together to solve problems in the Indo-Pacific.
"Working together as the Quad, we are more effective in delivering practical support to the region," the joint statement said.
Climate change, cybercrime, terrorism and Covid-19 vaccine distribution were all priorities for the group too, the statement said.
But Manjari Chatterjee Miller, senior fellow for India, Pakistan and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, said it was "certainly not true or realistic" to say the Quad is not at all about China.
"It's not true because even the concept of a free and open Indo-Pacific, which is central to the Quad, is very much about containing China's encroachments and political and economic influence," she said. "It's not realistic because China is very much aware of this."
US President Joe Biden's administration sees the Quad as a cornerstone of its efforts to resist Chinese military expansion, South China Sea island-building, the recent intimidation tactics aimed at Taiwan and efforts by Beijing to bind its neighbours more closely through trade and infrastructure deals.
China has repeatedly condemned the Quad and Washington's focus on alliances as examples of US coercion in the name of democracy.
"We oppose forming exclusive cliques and setting up groups within groups, as well as creating confrontation between camps," Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said this week in Beijing.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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