The United States, India, Japan and Australia oppose any “change the status quo by force“, in particular in Asia-Pacific, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Tuesday after a meeting in Tokyo of the alliance “Quadgrouping together these four countries.
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The members of the Quad, who are particularly concerned about China’s growing influence and military maneuvers in the region, also announced a plan to devote at least 50 billion dollars (about 47 billion euros) to infrastructure projects and investments in Asia-Pacific over the next five years.
Military means for Taiwan
“As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shakes fundamental principles of international order“, the American, Indian, Australian leaders “and I agree that unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force will never be tolerated anywhere, especially in the Indo-Pacific region.Said Fumio Kishida.
On Monday, US President Joe Biden said his country would defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion of the autonomous island by Beijing forces. However, he clarified on Tuesday that “strategic ambiguityof Washington, consisting in diplomatically recognizing only mainland China while undertaking to give the autonomous island the military means to defend itself in the event of an invasion, remained unchanged.
Attempts at “nibbling”
The four members of the Quad regularly worry about military maneuvers and Chinese attempts to “snackingaround Pacific islands. In their statement on Tuesday, the four heads of state made specific reference to “militarizationof disputed sectors, tothe dangerous use of coastguard vessels and maritime militias and efforts to disrupt the offshore resource exploitation activities of other countries“, as many activities that China is accused of carrying out in the region.
The statement, however, avoided explicitly condemning China or Russia. India is the only Quad member that has refused to publicly criticize Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
Chinese maritime surveillance
Following their talks in Tokyo, the Quad countries also agreed to launch a new maritime surveillance initiative to bolster monitoring of Chinese activities in the region.
The moves, along with the plan to spend at least $50 billion on infrastructure projects and investment, follow concerns over China’s recent efforts to build ties with Pacific nations, including the Solomon Islands which entered into a security pact with Beijing last month.
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“We are committed to working closely with our partners and the region to stimulate public and private investmentthe US, Indian, Japanese and Australian leaders said in their joint statement.