JOE BIDEN: Quads on Friday are expected to mainly insist on economic, environmental and anti-epidemic projects (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
USA President , Joe Biden, continues to move chips in the Indo-Pacific region when receiving on Friday, the 24th, the Prime Ministers of India, Japan and Australia, after the announcement last week of a stunning military alliance between The United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
Biden, who wants to contain China’s growing influence, plans to revive the “Quadrilateral Security Dialogue.”
The draft, also called the Quartet, was drafted after the devastating tsunami in 2004 and formalized in 2007, but remained inactive for a long time.
After a virtual summit in March, Biden united it personally and at a high level.
The guests are Scott Morrison (Australia), whom Biden met in person this week, Narendra Modi (India) and Yoshihide Suga (Japan), with whom Biden also had one-on-one conversations on Friday.
Alongside the Indian Prime Minister, in the Oval Office, Biden described today’s agenda: “Today we will talk about what we can do to fight COVID-19, tackle climate challenges and ensure stability in the Indo-Pacific region.”
“Shift to Asia”
When reactivating “Quad”In one way or another, Biden seeks an “Asian transformation” in US foreign policy, a goal that former President Barack Obama (2009-2017) cherished.
But after the announcement of the Aukus, as the deal with the UK and Australia is known – and its contract for nuclear-powered submarines that angered France – Washington wants to present the “Quartet” in view of a consensus.
Senior White House officials told reporters that this was an “informal” and “intimate” summit aimed at “developing better channels of communication.”
They stressed that there is no “military” goal, stressing that the “Quartet” will be “complementary” to other regional initiatives, in response to a question about its association with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Some members of this organization, which includes Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, fear an escalation of the US offensive in the region with China.
Semiconductors, vaccines, and the weather
According to senior officials, expectations are that the “Quartet” will insist on Friday mainly on economic and environmental projects and on fighting the epidemic.
The four partners want to launch an initiative to protect the supply of indispensable semiconductors and electronic components to washing machines, airplanes or smartphones, which industries around the world have struggled to achieve.
They also plan to talk about technology 5G networkCyber security, university exchanges, space projects, fisheries and vaccines.
“For Washington, the challenge is to overcome the security paradigm and improve the economic position of the United States in Southeast Asia,” Jonathan Stromsmith, an expert on the region, said in a note published by the Brookings Institution.
The effort to revive the Quartet is “symbol” of the Biden administration’s “approach to China, presented as competitive when needed, collaborative when possible, confrontational when necessary,” Stromsmith said.
The Democratic president maintains a tougher line toward China, like his Republican predecessor Donald Trump, but is approaching the confrontation with Beijing in a different way.
Biden, trying to overcome direct confrontation between the two superpowers, hopes to revitalize the alliance game and encourage traditional US partners to take an open stand against China.
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