By Trevor Hunnicutt and David Brunnstrom
CLAYMONT, Delaware, Aug 21 (Reuters) – Leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the United States expanded joint security measures in Asia’s trade-rich waters as outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden hosted his counterparts from the Quad group set up over shared concerns about China.
Biden, who met on Saturday with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese near his hometown in Delaware, stressed the importance of maintaining the Quad, which he sees as a signature foreign policy achievement. He will step down after the US presidential election on November 5.
The leaders announced joint coast guard operations next year that will include Australian, Japanese and Indian personnel spending time on a U.S. coast guard vessel. The countries plan to increase military logistics cooperation, the officials said. They did not comment on where the coast guard activity would take place.
The leaders also planned to expand the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness launched two years ago.
While the White House claimed the Quad summit was not aimed at any other country and that Beijing should not find any problem with the initiative, Biden kicked off the summit group session with a briefing on China. In a joint statement that did not mention the Chinese government by name, the leaders condemned “coercive and intimidatory maneuvers in the South China Sea.”
Analysts said the new maritime security initiatives would send a message to Beijing and represent a further shift in emphasis of the Quad’s activities toward security issues, reflecting growing concerns about China’s intentions.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has opposed the formation of the Quad, calling it an effort to encircle Beijing and escalate the conflict.
Biden described Beijing as a power that is changing tactics but not strategy as it continues to test the United States in the South and East China Seas and the Taiwan Strait.
“We think Xi Jinping is looking to focus on domestic economic challenges and minimize turbulence in diplomatic relations with China, and he’s also looking to buy himself some diplomatic space, in my view, to aggressively pursue China’s interests,” Biden said in remarks broadcast on the official event webcast.
Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, including territories claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. It also claims territories in the East China Sea disputed by Japan and Taiwan. China also regards democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory.
The leaders’ joint statement included harsh language on North Korea, condemning its ballistic missile launches and “malicious cyber activity.” A U.S. official said the leaders shared concerns about Russian military assistance to North Korea.
The group is stepping up its work to provide critical and security technologies, including a new open radio access network, to Pacific islands and Southeast Asia, regions of intense competition with China.
A health initiative by leaders aims to combat cervical cancer.
Lisa Curtis, an Asia policy expert at the Center for a New American Security and a former administration official, said India, which is not part of any military alliance, has been concerned about perceptions that the Quad could be militarizing the Indo-Pacific.
“But I think China’s recent maritime aggression might be changing the equation for India and might be prompting India to open up a bit more to the idea of Quad security cooperation,” he said.
Analysts and officials say Biden’s organization of the Quad is part of efforts to institutionalize the body ahead of his departure from office and that of Kishida, who will step down after a leadership contest next week and elections in Australia next year.
Asked about the group’s permanence, Biden grabbed Modi by the shoulder and said the group was here to stay.
Albanese called the Quad Coast Guard plan “very important” because “all four countries will have personnel perhaps on one vessel, enhancing interoperability and the cooperation that occurs,” according to a transcript of a press conference he held in Philadelphia.
Ahead of the summit, Albanese met with Biden at his home and discussed bilateral cooperation between the two close allies on defense and security matters, including in the Indo-Pacific.
The Quad met at the foreign minister level during the previous administration of Donald Trump, who will run against Vice President Kamala Harris in November, and enjoyed bipartisan support, as reflected by the formation of a Quad parliamentary group ahead of the summit. Biden elevated the Quad to the level of leader in 2021.