Quad Leaders’ Summit: Morrison, Biden throw down the gauntlet to China

Quad leaders float a raft of joint initiatives that will intimidate Beijing.

Scott Morrison and Joe Biden have thrown down the gauntlet to an increasingly ambitious and belligerent China, signalling four of the world’s leading democracies, including Australia and the US, will work more closely to together keep the Asia-Pacific region safe, stable and prosperous.

The leaders of the US, Australia, Japan and India, at a historic “Quad” meeting at White House on Friday, lauded their nations’ combined efforts and plans to vaccinate the world against Covid-19, share critical technology and fight climate change, in remarks that will intimidate Beijing.

In their first ever in-person meeting, the leaders of the four nations, which includes the world’s two biggest democracies, repeatedly burnished their democratic credentials in barely concealed efforts to contrast their own national governance with that of Chinese authoritarianism.

Mr Morrison, at the end of a five-day visit to the US, said the Quad — increasingly seen as a bulwark against Chinese aggression for foreign policy experts — was “about demonstrating how democracies such as ours … can get things done, can deal with the big challenges we face in a complex and changing world”.

“We stand here together in the Indo-Pacific region where we wish to be always free from coercion, where sovereign rights of all nations are respected, and where disputes are settled peacefully in accordance with international law,” he added, in remarks that China may interpret as an insult.

“We share a world view and have a common vision for the future, coming together to take on key challenges of our age, from Covid to climate to emerging technology,” the President, looking to expand the Quad’s agenda to “zero emissions shipping”, said in his opening remarks.

Quad leaders meet at the White House in Washington, DC on September 24. Picture: AFP

“We’re four major democracies with a long history of co-operation, we know how to get things done, and we’re up to the challenge,” he added.

The Quad has produced over 670 million extra Covid-19 doses, the prime minister noted, putting it on track to meet its March promise to deliver one billion extra does by the end of 2022 to south east Asian nations.

“In just six months from our last meeting so much has already been accomplished,” Mr Morrison said, signalling cyberspace and low emissions technology were next on forum’s agenda.

“We’re proud to say we’re making excellent progress,” added the US president, speaking in the opulent East room of the White House, where leaders were seated at a circular table flanked by senior officials and ambassadors.

Mr Biden also announced new “quad fellowships” for students from each of the four countries to advanced degrees in science and technology in the US, to create “the leaders, innovators and pioneers of tomorrow”.

Prime Minister Suga, whom Mr Morrison hosted at the Australian ambassador’s residence for breakfast a few hours earlier, called Mr Morrison “ScoMo” in his opening remarks and emphasised the benefits sharing of technology.

The White House has repeatedly stressed that the Quad, an informal grouping of nations from 2007 revived in late 2017, is not designed to contain China, although it is widely seen as a response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, whereby the Chinese Communist Party exerts economic and political power abroad.

The hours-long meeting among leaders will include discussions on critical technologies and materials, and the importance of securing supply chains disrupted by Covid-19 and which are vulnerable to Chinese monopolies.

President Joe Biden also announced new “quad fellowships” for students from each of the four countries to advanced degrees in science and technology in the US. Picture: AFP

The group will also pursue space research, which would involve all four partners working in the Indo-Pacific as well as a determination to ensure the supply of critical minerals for all countries to assist with the development of renewable energy technologies.

“The Biden administration understands that the challenges of the 21st century will largely play out in the Indo-Pacific, and we are doubling down on our efforts,” a senior Biden administration official said ahead of the meeting.

Wendy Cutler, vice president at the Asia Society and a former US trade negotiator, said the Quad was unlikely to develop into a preferential trade grouping.

“India has already left the R-Cep agreement and the US is unlikely to re-join the trans-Pacific partnership any time soon if ever,” she told The Australian.

Lisa Curtis, a senior fellow at the Centre for New American Security, said the point of the group, which didn’t mention China specifically, was designed to “specially push back against China’s assertion of a more authoritarian or militarist vision”.

“It’s not a military alliance but they’ve got security on their minds, it’s a strategic grouping with long-term goals with the overall purpose of countering or managing China’s military and economic rise,” she told The Australian.