Quad Summit Furthers Initiatives and Threatens Chinese Interests

Quad Summit Furthers Initiatives and Threatens Chinese Interests

Gabriella Fernandez

Staff Writer

On September 21, 2024, United States President Joe Biden hosted the Quad Alliance members in Wilmington, Delaware for his final summit. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese were hosted at President Biden’s former high school, Archmere Academy, in Claymont, Delaware for a leaders-level meeting. CNN reports that at this summit, the leaders expanded their Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness; and planned a joint coast-guard operation which will entail all four countries sending personnel to perform joint exercises on a rotational basis. Furthermore, CNN reports that the Quad leaders expanded the “Cancer Moonshot” Initiative which aims to reduce cancer in the Indo-Pacific.

However, beyond the practical progress produced by the Summit such as the “Quad Principles for Development and Deployment of Digital Public Infrastructure,” as seen on the U.S. Department of State Website, the Quad’s meeting also worked to make China feel targeted.  This is not a new effect, as the Asia Society Magazine writes that China has begun to pay attention to the Quad’s actions since its revival in 2017. According to the Global Times, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian has labeled the Quad as divisive and a threat to regional peace and stability. The Asia Society further explains how the Quad aims to be a “unifying multilateral coalition” that influences other regional actors to not give into China’s pursued change in the international order. This is because the Quad has the ability to function as a balance to Chinese power in Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific. China perceives this as “bloc confrontation” per the Global Times and has been outspoken on how the Quad is bad for regional interests while the Quad solely sees these as Chinese interests.  

The Quad has repeatedly stated that China is not the focus of its actions and initiatives. Their stated objectives are to “ensure a free and open order” meaning the prevention of one sole power becoming hegemon. Still, China’s perceived focus of the Quad on itself may not be unfounded as Biden was heard on a “hot mic” during the summit saying, “China continues to behave aggressively, testing this all across the region, and it’s true in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, South China, South Asia, and the Taiwan Straits,” reports CNN. This also comes with the fact that the summit began with a briefing on China. CNBC states that Biden believes China is simply shifting it’s tactics yet pursuing the same strategy in the region. 

While China keeps a close eye on the Quad, the US continues to pursue its policy of counterweighting China, according to the Associated Press. This has been a bipartisan effort as both former president Donald Trump and Biden initiated Quad relations and viewed this alliance as a key to shifting US focus to the Indo-Pacific reports the Associated Press. This is mainly due to U.S. rivalry with China as stated in the U.S. National Defense Strategy. The Center for Strategic and International Studies highlights that the U.S. House passed the Strengthening the Quad Act in February of 2024 to “elevate and institutionalize the status of the quad” while it is still awaiting Senate approval. This is reflective of the U.S. focus on the Indo-Pacific and maintaining a balance of power there. 

India has historically been hesitant at the notion of joint security, according to CNBC; however, it appears China’s recent aggression in the South China Sea and East China Sea has begun to persuade India otherwise. Chinese aggression has had a similar effect on the Quad pushing the leaders to heighten its importance and broaden its reach in recent years. For example, Biden elevated the Quad meetings to leader level in 2021 and met with Australian Prime Minister Albanese at his home before the summit to discuss bilateral cooperation for defense, security, and the Indo-Pacific reports CNBC. This is another example of how the Quad sees the need for greater collaboration and coordination in the Indo-Pacific.

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