'As partners in this Quad, it is more critical now than ever that we collaborate to protect our people and partners from the CCP's exploitation, corruption, and coercion,' Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said alongside Australian, Indian and Japanese officials.
traveled to Tokyo on Monday to meet with the foreign ministers of Japan, India and Australia, members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue tasked with ensuring"a free and open Indo-Pacific" in a mission widely aimed at China.
While a number of regional powers have been reserved in their rhetoric, the top U.S. diplomat took direct aim at Beijing and its ruling Chinese Communist Party. "As partners in this Quad, it is more critical now than ever that we collaborate to protect our people and partners from the CCP's exploitation, corruption, and coercion," Pompeo said in his opening remarks. "We've seen it in the South, in the East China Sea, the Mekong, the Himalayas, the Taiwan Straits," he added."These are just a few examples." To reinforce Washington's commitment to a region at the forefront of the growing U.S.-China geopolitical struggle, Pompeo held separate meetings with his counterparts.Pompeo and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga"reaffirmed that the U.S.-Japan Alliance is the cornerstone of peace, security, and prosperity for the Indo-Pacific region," State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Cale Brown said in a statement. In a conversation with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, the pair"reaffirmed the strength of the United States-India relationship, reviewed our efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, and asserted the need to work together to advance peace, prosperity, and security in the Indo-Pacific and around the globe." Pompeo and Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne also"emphasized the importance of the Quad discussions to the promotion of peace, security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific." In a more pointed commentary, they"also discussed their shared concerns regarding the People's Republic of China's malign activity in the region." Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attend the four Indo-Pacific nations' foreign ministers meeting in Tokyo on October 6. The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue aims to ensure a"free and open Indo-Pacific" and is largely seen as a joint measure to counter China.Such language has routinely been rejected by China as a U.S.-led attempt to foster disunity in the region. In anticipation of the Quad meeting, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters last week that the involved countries should focus on international collaboration rather than targeted blame. "We believe the world's overriding trend is peace, development and win-win cooperation," Wang said."Instead of forming exclusive cliques, multilateral and plurilateral cooperation should be open, inclusive and transparent instead of targeting third parties or undermining third parties' interests, cooperation should be conducive to mutual understanding and trust between regional countries.""We hope the relevant countries can think more of the regional countries' common interests and contribute to regional peace, stability and development rather than doing the opposite," Wang said.
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