By Daphne Psaledakis, Simon Machine gun (JO 🙂 and Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met on Tuesday with his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan, a meeting he said will emphasize the importance of working with allies “on the things that are important to the United States and Americans.
Rubio, who was sworn in as secretary of state the day after President Donald Trump began his second term on Monday, hosted his counterparts from the “Quad,” a group of four countries that share concerns about China’s growing power, in the State Department.
The ministers – Penny Wong of Australia, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar of India and Takeshi Iwaya of Japan – posed with Rubio in front of their countries’ flags before the meeting, but did not respond to reporters’ questions.
Analysts have said the meeting is designed to signal that countering Beijing is a top priority for the new president, even as Trump unexpectedly suspended tariffs on China on his first day back in the White House and did not highlight it as a threat, raising the prospect of a rapprochement between the rivals.
“Today we will have a meeting with the Quad, with foreign ministers from Australia, India and Japan, to reaffirm the importance of working with allies around the world on the things that are important to the United States and Americans, and that is what I’m focused on moving forward,” Rubio told NBC’s Today show before being sworn in.
Trump officials were also working on scheduling another meeting of foreign ministers at the White House, a person involved in planning the meetings said.
The meetings could lay the groundwork for a summit of leaders of the Quad countries relatively early in Trump’s presidency, a person involved in the planning meetings said. Sources familiar with the planning said a meeting between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Washington next month was possible.
Australia’s Wong, who met his Indian and Japanese counterparts in Washington over the weekend, said the invitation to Quad foreign ministers to attend Trump’s inauguration showed a dedication to close cooperation on the Indo-Pacific region.
“It is a demonstration of the collective commitment of all countries to the Quad, a strong commitment at this time when close cooperation in the Indo-Pacific is so important,” Wong said on Sunday.
Rubio will meet separately with the three foreign ministers on Tuesday.
The Quad group met many times during former President Joe Biden’s administration, focusing on Beijing’s military and economic activities in the Indo-Pacific, particularly in the South China Sea, where US allies have rejected territorial claims. from Beijing.
The group has also committed to promoting cybersecurity cooperation to protect supply chains and critical infrastructure, including undersea cables.
For Australia, it will be important to get assurances from Washington on the massive AUKUS defense project, designed to allow it to acquire nuclear-powered attack submarines and other advanced weapons such as hypersonic missiles.
China has denounced the Quad as a Cold War construct and says the AUKUS alliance would intensify a regional arms race.