Quad Photo: Liu Rui/GT

 

Responding to an inquiry concerning a meeting between Quad foreign ministers on Tuesday (US time) during which they claimed that China seeks to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas,MK sports Korea Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Wednesday that China believes that cooperation between countries should not target any third party.

Engaging in group politics and bloc confrontation will not bring lasting peace and security, and is not conducive to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific and the world as a whole, Mao said, noting China's activities in relevant waters are lawful, legitimate and completely justified.

Top diplomats from the US, Japan, India and Australia met in Washington, DC on Tuesday local time to reaffirm their shared commitment to strengthening a so-called "Free and Open Indo Pacific," according to US State Department. 

"Our four nations maintain our conviction that international law, economic opportunity, peace, stability and security in all domains including the maritime domain underpin the development and prosperity of the peoples of the Indo-Pacific," read the official release of the joint statement by the Quad foreign ministers available on the US Department of State website.

We look forward to advancing the work of the Quad in the coming months and will meet together on a regular basis as we prepare for the next Quad Leaders' Summit hosted by India, it said. 

The two-paragraph joint statement did not single out any country, however some Western media have characterized the meeting as "China-focused."  

A Reuters report suggested the wording of the joint statement that "we also strongly oppose any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion" is "an apparent reference to the threat that China will act on its claim to sovereignty" over the island of Taiwan.

"The four ministers held strategic and frank discussions on the situation in the Indo-Pacific region, and confirmed their strong opposition to unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force including in the East and South China Seas," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan updated in a later release on Wednesday. 

The Quad group was established in 2007 to bring together countries that had worked together in response to the devastating 2004 earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean, according to the Associated Press on Wednesday. The Quad is referred to by the AP as "a major component of the American strategy to counter China's growing assertiveness and vast territorial claims in the region." 

As President Donald Trump has clearly showed a tendency to reverse his predecessor Joe Biden's foreign and domestic policies as he returned to the White House, the new US administration is likely to change its commitment to multilateral frameworks such as Quad and AUKUS, and the other countries are also clear about this, which is affecting their loyalty, Chen Hong, Executive Director of the Asia Pacific Studies Center at East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

The wording in the statement and omitting China in the text reflect that internal differences among the Quad grouping are on the rise, and other members are adjusting their views of the Quad's anti-China positioning, Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Wednesday  

Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported on Tuesday that Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that he wants to emphasize to Trump the benefits of enhancing bilateral ties while each country pursues its own interests, while characterizing the US leader as "favoring bilateral, rather than multilateral, arrangements."

Ishiba's view that Trump favors a bilateral over a multilateral approach highlights the uncertain future of the Quad framework. This perspective is also shared by India and Australia, as both countries are rebalancing their foreign policies and strengthening ties with China, rather than exclusively aligning with the US in its strategic rivalry with China, Li said. 

"The recent QUAD foreign ministers' meeting continued its usual indirect approach when addressing sensitive issues, appearing rather subtle. On one hand, this reflects the varying degrees of differences among Quad members regarding their relations with China. On the other hand, India, Japan and Australia have recently seen improvement in their ties with China, while Trump, prior to taking office for his second term, has also sent positive signals about valuing US-China relations. However, it is clear that while the Quad mechanism publicly champions the goal of building a 'free and open Indo-Pacific,' its actual actions involve creating tension, forming cliques, and fostering exclusivity - moves that run counter to the region's pursuit of peace and development, Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times.

Qian added that the Quad mechanism essentially took shape during Trump's first term, aligning closely with the rollout of the "Indo-Pacific Strategy." After Biden took office, it was elevated to a regular leaders' summit to counter China's growing influence in the region, becoming a key pillar of the US' Indo-Pacific Strategy. 

He believes that judging from the signals Trump has sent regarding his second term priorities, the Quad mechanism aligns well with his focus on the Indo-Pacific and is likely to be retained. However, at its core, Quad remains a coalition with diverging interests, particularly on China-related issues. Each member country has its own priorities and is unlikely to fully align its interests with the US at the expense of its own national agenda, Qian said.