What is a quad, an alliance between Australia, India, Japan and the United States that worries China more and more | The world

On March 8, 2018, the Minister of Foreign Affairs ChineseWang Yi insulted the Foursome Security Dialogue, an informal strategic forum between Australia, India, Japan and the United States.QuadThe group says it will soon disperse like “foam of the ocean.”

Since the Quad has failed in the past, the claims are not entirely baseless. However, the growing commitment of its members, who We will meet at the summit in Tokyo tomorrowAnd attempts to expand its sphere of influence have sounded the alarm bells in Beijing and Wang recently accused Washington of trying. Create the Asian version of NATO It “disrupts regional peace and stability”.

See: Airbnb closes business in China, focusing on outbound tourism

Also, President Joe Biden opened the new chapter when it was officially unveiled on Monday Economic framework for prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region On the second day of the (IPEF) visit to Japan, a new economic group comprising 13 countries – four countries – Quad, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, New Zealand and Brunei – 40% of world GDPA move that China has already rejected.

“I believe we’re going to win the 21st century competition together,” Biden said during the release.

Despite the current intensification of Beijing’s refusal to condemn Russia, Taiwan’s intimidation and now IPEF formation, tensions have been building in the Indo – Pacific region for some time. According to Joel Woodnow, a senior fellow at the National Defense University in recent years Chinese strategists are watching with increasing concern as the quartet shifts from a shaky diplomatic body to a more “institutionalized” and “threatening” deal..

The origin of the quad

A few years before the formation of the quad, there was Tripartite Strategic Dialogue (TED), a series of meetings between the United States, Japan and AustraliaThe former hoped that its allies in Indo-Pacific space would contribute to facilitating the evolution of its global strategy to combat terrorism and nuclear proliferation in exchange for maintaining strategic and security guarantees in the region.

Also, in 2004, The tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean prompted the formation of a key team to coordinate aid between the United States, Japan, Australia and India. The group disbanded a few days later and although the countries joined the broader UN-coordinated relief efforts, the initiative set a precedent.

Three years later, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has recommended a formal meeting of the four countries. The first was held in May 2007 at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum in the Philippines. “Informal Committee” discussing common interestsAccording to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“Open and transparent, this network will allow the free movement of people, materials, capital and knowledge”Said Abe.

Based on the concept of “democratic peace”, the quad was Entitled “Malabar Training”, with unprecedented joint military exercises in the region.

The diplomatic and military agreement was widely seen as a response to the rise of China’s military and economic power, and Beijing issued Formal diplomatic protests against its members called “Asian NATO”

The group lasted only one year. Amid ambiguous targets and mounting Chinese pressure, countries were reluctant to formalize the talks. Also, Abe unexpectedly resigned in September 2007 Quattro’s “leading animator and architect” was removed, According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Break

In subsequent years, former members of the Quad They pursued bilateral or tripartite cooperation, especially in connection with joint military exercises.

Obama sought a more comprehensive approach under his strategy “Turn to Asia”, Is part of a strategic restructuring of America’s resources and priorities toward the world’s most populous continent. Washington wants to have long-standing strong ties with Japan and South Korea A comprehensive Asia-Pacific strategy will limit China’s growing commitment to the region as a means of greater engagement with Southeast Asian nations..

“The United States wanted to show China that it would compete on its own platform economically, diplomatically and militarily. In addition, the center will help separate the United States from the Middle East, which has been embroiled in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for nearly a decade. ” Diplomat Peter Birkbauer, researcher at the Johns Hopkins University School of International Studies.

However, according to analysts, Obama’s strategy has hit the pits from the beginning. The emergence of new recurrences of global terrorist organizations is linked to the growing civil war in Syria. The United States still had to focus a considerable amount of time and resources on a region that was already managing two wars.

Renaissance with Trump

Donald Trump came to power promising a more rigorous approach with the Xi Jinping government. In the first days of his tenure, he laid out plans for his economic group to add taxes to Chinese goods, and demanded that Beijing increase the volume of goods purchased from the United States.

In this context, Trump and Abe agreed to implement what they met during the 2017 ASEAN Summit. “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” Strategy, This was seen as a reflection of China’s Belt and Road initiative.

The visit coincided with a meeting of Japanese, Indian, Australian and US officials, which discussed Beijing’s growing role in the South China Sea, in which Trump expressed his views. Interested in re-activating the quad.

The quad met five times between 2017 and 2019. Naval vessels from the United States, Australia, Japan and India participated. Malabar Training in 2020.

Quad Plus

In March of that year, Quad members held a meeting with delegates New Zealand, South Korea and Vietnam For Discuss the respective approaches to Govt-19 infection, Which China saw as another attempt to expand its sphere of influence. Called this new group of major Indo-Pacific states Quad Plus. In May 2021, already under the Biden administration, another meeting took place Invited by Brazil and Israel, The two countries, which have no border with the Pacific Ocean, participate in the Plus format to discuss the distribution of vaccines.

In February of this year, Quad met in Melbourne, with the possibility of expanding the organization’s scope in the face of a united front represented by Russia and China, and which they regard as a threat to the openness and sovereignty of nations. Region. Tomorrow they meet again in Tokyo.

America wants “Ensure what the world would be like if the world’s democracies and open societies came together to dictate the rules of the game” around the “American” leadership.U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters today in Air Force One. “We hope the news will be heard in Beijing. But this is not negative news, it is not against any country, ”he added.

With information from AFP, ANSA and Reuters