On Monday, the foreign ministers of the United States, Japan, Australia, and India held a meeting in Tokyo, focusing on maritime security and initiatives for establishing network defense, as well as their cooperation on humanitarian issues in the Indo-Pacific region.
This marked the eighth foreign ministers’ meeting of the “Quad” group. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attended the meeting. Prior to this, the U.S. and Japan had held a security meeting on Sunday.
Before the meeting began, Penny Wong told the media, “We all know that our region and the world are being reshaped. We all understand that we are facing the most severe situation in decades in our region.”
“We all cherish the peace, stability, and prosperity of our region, we all know it is not guaranteed, and we cannot take it for granted,” she said.
In her opening remarks, Yoko Kamikawa emphasized the importance of establishing cyber security capabilities and providing maritime security training opportunities to protect and develop prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.
Amid escalating maritime tensions in the South China Sea and East China Sea by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), it is expected that the foreign ministers will reaffirm their strong opposition to unilateral actions attempting to alter the status quo in the region, as stated in last year’s joint declaration in September.
Although not directly naming the CCP in the joint statement released in India last year, it expressed “serious concern about the militarization in the region” and reiterated the importance of “compliance with international law.”
Following a series of military exercises conducted by the CCP in the surrounding waters after the inauguration of the new President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in May, as well as strengthened joint military activities with Russia in the South China Sea earlier this month, the United States and its Indo-Pacific allies have expressed concerns.
During Monday’s meeting, the foreign ministers are expected to further expand their cooperation on cyber security and intelligence sharing, humanitarian aid and disaster relief, counter-terrorism efforts, and technological development based on the foundation set last year.
On Sunday, the United States announced plans for significant reforms to its military command in Japan to deepen coordination with allied forces.
This is one of several measures taken to address the “evolving security environment” faced with various threats from China, North Korea, and more.
In his opening remarks at the Monday meeting, Antony Blinken stated, “Now, we are facing various conflicts: Gaza, Ukraine, South Sudan, which are receiving a lot of attention, which is understandable.”
“However, even as we are doing what we need to do, what we must do, to try to end these conflicts… we have not forgotten, in fact, we are firmly focusing on this region we all share,” he said.
Following their departure from Tokyo, Blinken and Austin will hold a security meeting with another Asian ally, the Philippines, to counter the increasingly assertive Beijing.
(References include relevant reports from Reuters and Nikkei Asia)