Biden caught saying China is ‘testing us’ in hot mic moment with Albanese

Delaware: US President Joe Biden has been caught in another hot mic moment, this time warning Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other Indo-Pacific leaders that he believes China’s aggression is a deliberate strategy to test the region at a challenging time for Beijing.

Biden’s candid comments were caught at a summit of the Quad alliance on Saturday (Sunday AEST), which he convened at his former high school in Delaware to put his personal mark on a group he hopes will endure well after his presidency ends in January.

The Quad leaders summit at Archmere Academy in Claymont, Delaware.Credit: AP

The White House has long been careful not to frame the Quad – which is made up of the US, Australia, Japan and India – primarily as a vehicle for Washington to thwart Beijing’s ambitions.

However, this notion was undermined when a camera feed picked up the president beginning the discussion by focusing on China and declaring that its recent assertiveness was a “change in tactic, not a change in strategy”.

“China continues to behave aggressively, testing us all across the region, and it’s true in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, South China, South Asia and the Taiwan Straits,” Biden told Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

“We believe [Chinese President] Xi Jinping is looking to focus on domestic economic challenges and minimise the turbulence in China’s diplomatic relationships, and he’s also looking to buy himself some diplomatic space, in my view, to aggressively pursue China’s interest.”

Joe Biden talks with Anthony Albanese as they leave the summit at Archmere Academy.Credit: AP

The remarks were made after journalists were forced to leave the room once the leaders had given their formal remarks.

And while it’s not the first time Biden has been caught on a hot mic, the comments are nonetheless likely to raise eyebrows in China, which has been at odds with the US over everything from trade to spy balloons.

With only four months until he leaves the world stage, Biden’s final Quad meeting took place amid international anxiety about where US foreign policy is headed after November’s election, particularly in the event of a second Trump presidency.

But uncertainty also lingers over the four-nation alliance, with Biden departing in January, Kishida standing down soon, and Albanese under pressure in Australia as an election looms next year.

The president, however, is adamant that the group will endure, “way beyond November”.

“While challenges will come, and the world will change, the Quad is here to stay,” Biden said in his opening remarks at Archmere Academy, the school he attended, along with his children.

The leaders on Saturday announced a range of initiatives, including a “Quad Cancer Moonshot” to help protect women across the Pacific from cervical cancer by expanding the HPV vaccine program. The Australian government will contribute $16.5 million to the partnership, and Andrew and Nicola Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation will provide an additional $13.1 million.

“Tragically, women in the Pacific die of the disease at up to 13 times the rate of women in Australia,” Albanese said. “These people are not numbers – they are our neighbours, members of our Pacific family. And we are stepping forward to help.”

The leaders also unveiled a joint coast guard operation that will lead to, for the first time, Australian, Japanese and Indian personnel spending time on a US Coast Guard vessel.

A maritime agreement that monitors illegal fishing and other unlawful international activity will also be expanded, with the new pact now including the Indian Ocean.

Following China’s confrontations with the Philippines in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, the group also issued a joint communique after the meeting, condemning the actions without specifically naming Beijing.

“We continue to express our serious concern about the militarisation of disputed features, and coercive and intimidating manoeuvres in the South China Sea. We condemn the dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels, including increasing use of dangerous manoeuvres,” the leaders said.

Biden, joined by Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, walks out to speak about a Quadrilateral Cancer Moonshot initiative on the sidelines of the summit.Credit: AP

Asked about Biden’s hot mic comments – which come as China faces slowing growth, a real estate challenge and demographic shifts – an administration official said: “I don’t think there’s much to elaborate on that.

“It’s not surprising that China would have been on the agenda. It’s an Indo-Pacific convening. China is a major country in the Indo-Pacific,” the official said.

The four-person summit was a chance for Biden to put his stamp on one of his defining foreign policy achievements. As a leader who has often said that politics is personal, he began the gathering by giving each of the leaders an individual tour of his home in Wilmington, Delaware, starting with Albanese on Friday.

Ahead of that meeting, the prime minister suggested he would use the Quad summit to also speak to Modi about India’s “nest of spies” in Australia, which was kicked out after being caught trying to steal secrets about sensitive defence projects, airport security, and trade.

Albanese and Modi at the summit.Credit: AP

However, the prime minister insisted “relations between India and Australia have never been stronger.”

As for the future of the Quad more broadly, he said he was “absolutely confident” that it was getting stronger. “All four nations are committed to the Quad playing an important role,” he said.

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