Quad meeting, involving Scott Morrison, Biden, Modi, Suga, to tackle China threat
Scott Morrison says the first Quad leaders’ meeting, with the US, Japan and India, will focus on security in the Indo-Pacific.
Scott Morrison will attend the first meeting of the “Quad” leaders on Saturday, branding the summit as crucial for the nation’s security amid heightened military posturing between the US and China.
The Prime Minister said the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue summit with US President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Japanese leader Yoshihide Suga early on Saturday morning would mark a new era for the grouping, taking the Quad “to a whole new level”.
“It is another key step forward in how Australia has sought to keep Australians safe, by ensuring that we’re working with our partners, and with our allies in particular,” Mr Morrison said.
The Quad leaders’ meeting sends the strongest signal yet to China that the Indo-Pacific democracies are prepared to work together to counter its efforts to dominate the region.
It is expected to be followed by in-person talks between the four leaders later this year.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the timing of the virtual summit, so early in the US President’s term, demonstrated the administration’s strong focus on the Indo-Pacific region.
“That President Biden has made this one of his earliest multilateral engagements speaks to the importance we place on close co-operation with our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific,” she said.
Responding to the announcement, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said: “We hope that relevant countries can do things conducive to regional peace.”
It came as Chinese President Xi Jinping instructed his military to focus on “combat readiness”, and as a top US commander called for more missiles to be placed in allied countries around China to enable the US to “win the game”.
The Quad leaders’ meeting will also occur against a backdrop of genocide findings against the Chinese Communist Party over its treatment of its Uighur minority.
A 25,000-page report by more than 50 international law experts found China’s campaign of persecution against the Uighurs had violated every article in the UN genocide convention.
As well as the threat of China, the Quad summit will also focus on maritime security, climate change and the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The leaders will discuss the need to develop trusted supply chains in emerging and critical technologies; and a deal will reportedly be finalised to increase coronavirus vaccine manufacturing capability in India.
The Quad alliance was formalised in 2007, but Saturday’s meeting will be a first for its leaders.
Mr Morrison said Australia’s peace and security depended on stability within the region “where Australia lives”. He also said the summit would “send a strong message” to the Indo-Pacific about Australia’s support for a stable and independent region.
“It was the first thing that I discussed with President Biden, and I was so pleased that the other leaders are so enthusiastic about the program, and President Biden is taking this to another level,” Mr Morrison said. “It will be a historic moment in our region.”
The Quad member nations have emphasised the grouping is not a security alliance but an informal strategic forum of like-minded countries with shared interests. However, last year’s Malabar naval exercise hosted by India became a de facto Quad military training event, when Australia was invited to attend along with the US and Japan.
China has branded the Quad as an “exclusive clique”, warning it should not be used to target any specific nation. The country’s state media has been more direct, arguing that Beijing should use its economic power to counter “provocations” by the grouping.
The tensions were laid bare on Wednesday when Mr Xi told Chinese military representatives at the National People’s Congress in Beijing to “be prepared to respond” to looming threats.
And it came as the commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Philip Davidson, warned that China could invade Taiwan “within the next six years”.
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