WASHINGTON: The United States and India, bilaterally and quadrilaterally with Japan and Australia, have committed to massively upping their game to counter China’s rapidly growing influence in the Pacific and beyond, with a raft of economic, health, and technological initiatives that will draw their people and societies, their industry and businesses, and their militaries and defence establishments closer.
Not once in the two elaborate bilateral and multilateral statements, each running into about 2000 words, did the word China feature, but the underpinning was unmistakable. Leaders of the four countries also laid to rest any notion that Quad was not security-based.
“Together, we recommit to promoting the free, open, rules-based order, rooted in international law and undaunted by coercion, to bolster security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. We stand for the rule of law, freedom of navigation and overflight, peaceful resolution of disputes, democratic values, and territorial integrity of states,” their joint statement declared.
“We also recognise that our shared futures will be written in the Indo-Pacific, and we will redouble our efforts to ensure that the Quad is a force for regional peace, stability, security, and prosperity,” it added.
The Covid and climate change crisis provided the jumping point for security cooperation that involves “critical and emerging technologies” where China is stealing the lead. The four countries also declared their intent to work with Asean and the European Union in this regard as they sought to build a broader coalition against Beijing.
Specific initiatives on Covid-19, which was triggered in China, include massive vaccine production and export commitments to Indo-Pacific countries and beyond, science and technology cooperation in the areas of clinical trials and genomic surveillance to end the pandemic, and a joint pandemic-preparedness exercise in 2022 to address future crisis.
But it was in the area of high-tech cooperation that the Quad leaders made commitments aimed at breaking the growing Chinese stranglehold. They said they are mapping the supply chain of critical technologies and materials, including semiconductors, and affirmed their “positive commitment to resilient, diverse, and secure supply chains of critical technologies, recognizing the importance of government support measures and policies that are transparent and market-oriented.”
They also pledged to monitor trends in the critical and emerging technologies of the future, beginning with biotechnology, and announced the launch of Quad Principles on Technology Design, Development, Governance, and Use that they hope will guide not only the region but the world towards responsible, open, high-standards innovation.
Towards this end, they also announced a Quad STEM fellowship for 25 students from each country each year to study in partner nations.
In a clear effort to counter China’s much-touted Belt and Road initiative, the Quad leaders also announced launching of a new Quad infrastructure partnership and pledged to “meet regularly to coordinate our efforts, map the region’s infrastructure needs, and coordinate on regional needs and opportunities.”
They committed to cooperate to provide technical assistance, empowering regional partners with evaluative tools, and will promote sustainable infrastructure development.
“We emphasize the importance of supporting open, fair, and transparent lending practices in line with international rules and standards for major creditor countries, including on debt sustainability and accountability, and call on all creditors to adhere to these rules and standards,” their joint statement said in a thinly-disguised reference to China’s predatory practices that have sunk small countries in debt.