Quad foreign ministers meet in Tokyo with eye on China

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TOKYO – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met counterparts from Japan, Australia and India on Monday, with the group expected to issue a joint statement calling for a “free and open” Pacific in a rebuke to China.
While not naming it directly, the call from Blinken and the foreign ministers of the so-called Quad grouping will be seen as a clear reference to Beijing in the wake of a series of confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels in the disputed South China Sea.
North Korean missile launches, cybersecurity and maritime patrols will also reportedly be on the agenda.
Blinken is on a diplomatic tour of Asia-Pacific countries aimed at reinforcing regional cooperation in the face of Beijing’s growing assertiveness and its deepening ties with Russia.
At high-level defence talks in Tokyo on Sunday, Blinken, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Japanese counterparts issued scathing verbal attacks on China and Russia.
They said in a statement that Beijing’s “foreign policy seeks to reshape the international order for its own benefit at the expense of others”.
Their joint communique criticised Moscow’s “growing and provocative strategic military cooperation” with China, as well as its procurement of ballistic missiles from North Korea “for use against Ukraine”.
The Quad talks in Tokyo, the first since September, include Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, India’s S. Jaishankar and Australia’s top diplomat Penny Wong.
Japanese media reported that the ministers will jointly pledge to improve the Philippines’ cybersecurity capacity and help Palau build communications network infrastructure.
They will also provide help to other nations in maritime policing and search-and-rescue, the reports said.