Scott Morrison confirms Washington trip for Quad summit

Scott Morrison will travel to the US within weeks for an in-person meeting of the ‘Quad’ alliance leaders.

Scott Morrison takes part via video link in the inaugural Quad leaders meeting in March. Picture: AAP

Scott Morrison will travel to the US within weeks for an in-person meeting of the “Quad” alliance leaders, after outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he would attend the summit.

The Prime Minister confirmed on Thursday he would travel to Washington later this month for the first Quad leaders’ face-to-face meeting, with Mr Suga, US President Joe Biden, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mr Morrison said he was still awaiting final details of the meeting, but declared: “I’ll look forward to being in Washington to be part of those discussions.”

It’s expected the Prime Minister will also have his first bilateral meeting with Mr Biden during the trip

China’s economic coercion of Australia, its threats to maritime security in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, and its incursions into Indian territory in the Himalayas will be high on the agenda for the historic summit.

Closer co-operation is also expected on tackling Covid-19, climate change, and developing trusted critical technology supply chains.

It appeared earlier that the meeting could be delayed after Mr Suga announced he would step aside as Japan’s leader on September 30. But Japanese media reported on Thursday he would still visit Washington for the four-way meeting.

The Quad leaders’ determination to push ahead with the meeting on its original timeline will infuriate Beijing, which has labelled the grouping an “exclusive clique” designed to “sow discord” against China.

It follows a virtual Quad leaders’ meeting in March, which resolved to “strive for a region that is free, open, inclusive, healthy, anchored by democratic values, and unconstrained by coercion”.

ANU’s National Security College head Rory Medcalf said the March meeting had “effectively normalised” Quad summits, which had previously been seen as “a bridge too far”.

The meeting set out a broad agenda for the grouping including vaccines and technology co-operation, infrastructure investment and disaster relief that was not only about China or security.

“Obviously, balancing China is a big part of the unstated purpose of the Quad. But it is not the only thing,” he said.

“That was really important for building the comfort levels for everyone else – including Indonesia, ASEAN, the Europeans, the Koreans.”