Joe Biden hosts Quad’s first sitting
President Joe Biden is ‘looking forward’ to welcoming Scott Morrison to Washington later this month as a part of a plan to supercharge the Quad group of nations.
President Joe Biden is “looking forward” to welcoming Prime Minister Scott Morrison to Washington later this month as a part of a White House plan to supercharge the four-way group of nations, which includes India and Japan, to act as a bulwark against an increasingly belligerent China.
Capping what will be the most intense month of interaction yet between the Biden administration and the Australian government, the White House said the leaders of the US, Japan, Australia and India would meet on September 24 – the first time the leaders of the emerging geopolitical powerhouse have met in person.
“The Biden-Harris Administration has made elevating the Quad a priority, as seen through the first Quad leaders-level engagement in March, which was virtual, and now this summit, which will be in person,” press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement on Monday.
The four leaders, including Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who is set to step down on September 30, will be “focused on deepening our ties and advancing practical co-operation on areas such as combating Covid-19, addressing the climate crisis, partnering on emerging technologies and cyberspace, and promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific”, she added.
The Prime Minister is expected to also have his first ever bilateral meeting with Mr Biden, who had raised eyebrows in diplomatic circles for taking almost three weeks to phone the Australian PM after the two nations’ withdrawal from Afghanistan began, despite calling many other leaders.
Observers questioned the strength of the relationship between the President and Mr Morrison after Australia failed to make additional commitments to reduce carbon dioxide emissions at the Mr Biden’s remote climate summit held in April.
The two leaders met briefly on the sidelines of the G7 summit in the UK in June together with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Australia’s countering China’s economic coercion, which has included export bans on Australian wine, beef and barley, will be top of the agenda, along with shoring up the security of the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, where Chinese military vessels have been threatening Taiwan.
The US withdrawal from Afghanistan, widely seen as a rushed disaster, has fuelled confusion about US foreign policy and the nation’s willingness to stand up for allies, and concern China would extend its influence in Afghanistan.
Senator Bill Hagerty, a former US ambassador to Japan, lauded the forthcoming meeting.
“Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal debacle made India’s neighbourhood more dangerous and raises legitimate questions for Japan and Australia as well, so it’s good we will be hosting Quad partners soon,” he said on Twitter.
The meeting will follow the first Australia-US ministerial AUSMIN summit to take place on Thursday this week, when Defence Minister Peter Dutton and Foreign Minister Marise Payne will meet their counterparts Lloyd Austin and Antony Blinken for the first time.
They will seek to co-ordinate their influence on global institutions to ensure their favoured candidates are elected, after concerns China increasingly has used its economic and financial heft to dominate institutions such as the World Bank and WHO.
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