By Daniel DePetris
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi received the red-carpet treatment at the White House last week for the first in-person meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. President Biden’s decision to host the summit comes about six months after the Quad released a joint leaders statement pledging to “commit to promoting a free, open rules-based order” in the Indo-Pacific region.
For Biden, the leaders’ summit is a golden opportunity to elevate a broad theme of his presidency: utilizing international partnerships to manage the challenges of the 21st century, in particular China’s quest to become Asia’s dominant power. But if the Biden administration seeks to turn the Quad into an anti-China balancing coalition or, more dramatically, a new NATO in Asia, it will be setting itself up for disappointment. While Australia, Japan and India all have strong disagreements with China and are growing increasingly concerned about Beijing’s behavior in the region, none of these countries seem especially interested in allowing Washington to dictate its policy in Asia. Unlike Washington, the Japanese, Indians and Australians live in the Indo-Pacific and have to be especially careful before rocking the boat with Beijing.
As China’s economic and military strength grows, the nation is getting more assertive as it moves to protect its own interests. Last year, Chinese naval vessels sailed in the waters of the Japanese-administered Senkaku islands for 333 consecutive days, deployments that continue to test Tokyo’s defensive measures and response time. Japan’s Defense Ministry, in its most recent annual white paper, stressed that “Chinese military trends…have become a matter of grave concern to the region.” India, meanwhile, is still facing off with tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers on the other side of its disputed Himalayan border, where there were clashes last year. China is also continuing its campaign of economic pressure against Australia, adopting tariffs and import restrictions on everything from Australian wine and barley to coal and seafood.
This piece was originally published in The Hill on September 27, 2021. Read more HERE.