Quad summit ensures US focus remains on main game – China

Antony Blinken’s visit next month signals the US is ‘keeping its eye on the ball’ and managing the China risk, defence experts say.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Picture: AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit next month signals Australia’s biggest strategic ally is “keeping its eye on the ball” and managing the China risk despite rising conflict in Europe, defence experts say.

As reported by The Australian, Mr Blinken will join Japanese and Indian foreign ministers in Melbourne for a two-day summit hosted by the Morrison government as part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad.

United States Studies Centre director of foreign policy and defence Ashley Townshend said the US had “been distracted from Asia for over a decade” while fighting in the Middle East.

“It’s critical that the Quad now stays absolutely focused on the Indo-Pacific,” he told The Australian.

It follows rising tensions in Europe, with Western governments accusing Russia of gathering more than 100,000 soldiers on the border of the once Soviet-controlled Ukraine.

The US has warned Russia it will face widespread sanctions if it does not immediately withdraw its troops.

Despite this, defence experts said it was vital the US was not distracted from the rising security concerns in the Indo-Pacific.

University of Western Australia defence and security program director Peter Dean said the Quad meeting was “timed well” to ensure the US did not get distracted from the Indo-Pacific.

“There’s obviously some concern floating around that everything that’s happening in the Ukraine is taking the US’s eye off the ball in terms of the real long-term strategic area of concern – the Indo-Pacific,” he said.

“The long-term concern is China not Russia,” he said.

“China is having a global impact in the way the Russians can never have, economically and ­geopolitically. “Of course, there are issues with North Korea, with Iran and with Russia, but they pale in comparison.”

Professor Dean said the world had “seen before” the US get distracted by conflicts, including in the Middle East. But Australian Strategic Policy Institute executive director Peter Jennings said the escalating conflict facing Ukraine could impact China’s ­behaviour and should be discussed at the Quad.

“China is looking at this Ukraine story to pick up lessons for how it may promote its interests in Taiwan,” he said.

Mr Jennings said the meeting in Melbourne proved Australia was not just “a small niche player” in Asia. “It shows we actually have a bigger global mission … and that’s becoming so much clearer with the Quad,” he said

It follows an increasing number of Australians concerned with the rise of China, with 10 per cent of voters ranking the China threat as the most important issue facing the nation in the latest Newspoll.