Solid "four": Trump targets QUAD's help in fighting China
The new administration in the United States has begun work. Almost immediately, State Department head Marco Rubio met with colleagues from QUAD, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. The alliance includes India, Australia, the US and Japan. This group of states was created primarily to counter China in the Indo-Pacific region. Details - in the material "Izvestia".
The main American threat
The first mission of the new U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the QUAD talks at the level of foreign ministers, which took place on January 21. Rubio is a consistent critic of China. At a Senate hearing to confirm his nominee to head the State Department, he said that the Chinese Communist Party poses a unique danger and that the threats emanating from Beijing are "the strongest and most dangerous" in U.S. history. In his view, even the confrontation with the Soviet Union was not as acute.
"Currently, the Chinese are a technological adversary, an industrial competitor, an economic competitor, a geopolitical competitor, a scientific competitor. In all spheres. This is an extraordinary challenge," Rubio stated.
<p>Rubio meets with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Indian Foreign Minister Subramanyam Jaishankar and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaii</p>
He also added that unless action is taken, in 10 years, much of American life will depend "on whether or not the Chinese allow us to do that."
Rubio's meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Indian Foreign Minister Subramanyam Jaishankar and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwai should demonstrate active U.S. involvement in Indo-Pacific affairs.
The initiative to jointly contain China has been championed by Donald Trump since his first term as president.
Moved to the highest level
The last QUAD summit took place in September. With two heads of state - U.S. President Joseph Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida - leaving their posts, the allies tried to maintain "long-term sustainability" and "the habit of cooperation."
At the same time, the final statement in the section on Ukraine showed that there was not complete unity among the participants on international issues. The parties supported "comprehensive, just and lasting peace in accordance with international law and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, including respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity". In addition, there were complaints about the negative impact of the conflict on energy and food security.
<p>US President Joseph Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida</p>
However, Moscow was not mentioned once in this context. This is probably the result of the position taken by India, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. From the very beginning of the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, New Delhi has emphasized its neutrality, opposing India's accession to anti-Russian sanctions.
The QUAD dialog began to take shape in 2007, when former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe proposed the concept of an "Asian Arc of Freedom and Prosperity." This was followed by contacts between representatives of Japan, Australia, India and the United States. However, a year later, the forum virtually ceased to exist.
During Donald Trump's first term as US President, QUAD activities were restored. In 2019, the first meeting in the format of foreign ministers was held in New York.
Since 2021, former US President Joseph Biden decided to hold summits in the QUAD format. Since then, the leaders have organized two virtual and four face-to-face summits.
A new arena of rivalry
To ensure a long-lasting partnership, the U.S. Congress established a new QUAD panel of representatives from both chambers and both parties. At the last meeting, the four leaders agreed to conduct joint coast guard operations in the Indo-Pacific region from 2025, during which Indian, Japanese and Australian military personnel will be stationed on US ships.
In addition, the two sides agreed to strengthen partnerships in cybersecurity, as well as 5G networks and artificial intelligence, and advocated a network to respond to risks associated with contingencies in semiconductor supply chains. And they also outlined the first meeting of QUAD's trade and industry ministers.
Washington has repeatedly reported that the Quartet summit is not directed against any other nation.
However, all the previously announced measures were essentially an attempt to act as a counterbalance to China and its influence in the region. For example, in the latest joint statement, QUAD leaders condemned "intimidating maneuvers in the South China Sea," clearly alluding to Beijing but not naming it.
"The Quartet also decided to step up efforts to provide critical and secure technologies for the Pacific Islands, which have long been of interest to the PRC."
The only state directly criticized by the QUAD countries was North Korea: it was condemned for "malicious cyber activity" and ballistic missile launches.
- The Indo-Pacific region is seen as a new arena not only for rivalry but also possibly for future hostilities. In this context, China is a central state, a geopolitical and economic rival of the United States," Natalia Yeremina, Doctor of Political Science, professor at St. Petersburg State University, said in a conversation with Izvestia.
<p>U.S. President Donald Trump</p>
Andrei Kortunov, research director of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), pointed out in a conversation with Izvestia that the current meeting in the QUAD format at the level of foreign ministers means that the Trump administration "confirms the priority of the Indian direction in its Asian policy."
- Donald Trump has always had a good relationship with Narendra Modi. While many specific directions will change, the course of strengthening ties with India will be maintained and, probably, will be expanded," the political scientist believes.
According to the expert, despite Trump's rather skeptical attitude to multilateral formats, in some cases multilateral forums such as QUAD are attractive and perhaps even optimal for the United States.
- Trump generally believes that the United States is more comfortable, accustomed, and profitable working in a bilateral format. But there is a different message here," the specialist believes.
He added that it is too early to say how the new administration will build relations with China.
- But it is certainly a signal to Beijing that Washington has its own trump cards in this game and can use them. This includes India and Japan," Kortunov summarized.
