US, Japan, Australia, and India Hold 'Quad Meeting' to Realize Plan for Checking China

(From left) S. Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs of India; Motegi Toshimitsu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan; Yoshihide Suga, Prime Minister of Japan; Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia; and Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State of the United States, pose for a photo on the 6th at the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Tokyo ahead of the 'Quad' meeting.
[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] As China expands its influence over the East and South China Seas, the four-nation cooperation group 'Quad,' consisting of the United States, Japan, Australia, and India, has decided to strengthen their unity to realize the 'Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)' initiative through their meeting.

At the Quad meeting held on the 6th in Tokyo, attended by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, and Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, the four countries discussed the situation in the East and South China Seas, where China is increasing its dominance, as a major agenda item and reaffirmed their shared position that the Indo-Pacific must remain a free and open space.

Chairing the meeting, Foreign Minister Motegi stated in his opening remarks, "Recently, the existing international order has been challenged in various fields, and the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has accelerated this trend," adding, "Our four countries share the goal of strengthening the rules-based international order."

Foreign Minister Motegi emphasized that the 'Free and Open Indo-Pacific' initiative will play a significant role in this process and highlighted the importance of broadening the vision through the participation of many countries.

The 'Free and Open Indo-Pacific' initiative was proposed in 2016 by former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as a diplomatic strategy aimed at countering China's massive economic project, the 'Belt and Road Initiative (一帶一路).' This strategy focuses on developing the sea routes from Asia and the Pacific through the Indian Ocean to the Middle East and Africa as a global public good, securing freedom of navigation against China's hegemonic expansion.

The four countries regard this as a common interest through the Quad meeting and plan to strengthen cooperation in economic and security fields. Additionally, during the meeting, they agreed to enhance their cooperative framework in areas such as infrastructure development for underdeveloped countries in the region, maritime security, cyber domains, and COVID-19 response. They also agreed to institutionalize the Quad meetings, held for the second time following the first meeting in New York last September, with the goal of holding them annually.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.