Melbourne (AFP) – 11/02/2022. 08:47
To confront China, the United States is in talks with its Asian partners
- The biggest challenge is progress China Which calls into question the “traditional system”
- The coalition was launched in 2007 under the name “Quadruple Security Dialogue”
The foreign ministers of the United States, Australia, Japan and India began discussions, on Friday, regarding deepening the so-called quadruple alliance (Quad) aimed at containing the expansion of influence China in the Asia Pacific region.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said ahead of the summit: “Together we form a vibrant network of liberal democracies that are committed to cooperating concretely and to ensuring that all countries in the Indo-Pacific, large and small, are able to
Make its own strategic decisions, free of coercion.
What are China’s ambitions?
For his part, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken stressed that although Washington is currently focused on the Russian threat in Ukraine, the long-term challenge remains progress. China Which calls into question the “traditional system”.
“From my point of view, there is no doubt that China’s ultimate ambition is to become the leading military, economic, diplomatic and political power, not only in the region but also in the world,” he told The Australian newspaper on the eve of the talks.
The coalition was launched in 2007 under the name “Quadruple Security Dialogue” or Quad
He set the framework for joint naval exercises between the United States, India and Japan in the Pacific Ocean known as the Malabar exercises.
The initiative gained new momentum in 2020 with Australia’s re-joining, and bloody clashes between Chinese and Indian forces over a disputed part of the border, giving traditionally nonaligned New Delhi an impetus for greater cooperation with the Quads.
After joint naval exercises in 2020 in the Bay of Bengal, the Melbourne meeting aims to deepen cooperation in areas such as combating COVID-19, and focus on information technology issues including the deployment of 5G telecoms networks, or even climate change.
In January, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi explained to his country’s parliament that the Quartet had made it possible to establish a “free and open order based on the rule of law” in the Asia-Pacific region.
