[Epoch Times September 25, 2021](Epoch Times reporter Zhang Ting comprehensive report) The leaders of the United States, Japan, Australia and India held their first face-to-face “Quad Security Dialogue” (Quad) at the White House on Friday (September 24) Summit and issued a joint statement. The statement focuses on ten major issues and has repeatedly pointed to the CCP in creating high-quality vaccines, high-standard infrastructure, secure 5G, cyberspace cooperation, and maintaining stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
The four heads of state said in a statement that at this historic moment, the four countries are once again committed to mutual partnership and ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
“The convening of the Quartet Summit is an opportunity for us and the world to refocus on the Indo-Pacific region and the vision we hope to achieve. We are committed to promoting freedom, openness, rules-based, rooted in international law, and fear of coercion to strengthen The security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region and other regions.” The statement said.
“We support the rule of law and freedom of navigation, and the peaceful settlement of disputes. We also support democratic values and national territorial integrity,” the statement said. The heads of state of the four countries also expressed that they welcome the EU-Indo-Pacific cooperation strategy promulgated in September 2021.
Responding to COVID-19
The statement said that in response to the epidemic, the four countries have established the Quad Vaccine Experts Group, composed of top experts from their respective governments, and “responsible for establishing strong connections and better adjusting our plans to support India. Health and safety and COVID-19 response in the Pacific region”.
“Since the first meeting, we have made considerable progress in addressing some of the world‘s most pressing challenges: the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, and critical and emerging technologies.
“To date, as part of these commitments, we have provided nearly 79 million doses of safe, effective and quality-assured vaccines to countries in the Indo-Pacific region.”
The statement also mentioned that India will step up production of vaccines later this year. “We also recognize the importance of an open and safe supply chain for vaccine production.”
The statement said that India announced the resumption of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine exports from October 2021. Japan will continue to help regional partners purchase vaccines through the US$3.3 billion “COVID-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support Loan”. Australia will provide US$212 million in grant assistance to purchase vaccines for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Previous analysis has pointed out that the vaccine cooperation of the four countries is aimed at responding to the CCP’s irresponsible “vaccine diplomacy” policy. US Secretary of State Blincoln condemned the Chinese Communist Party’s vaccine diplomacy with additional conditions in mid-March, playing politics at the expense of people’s health. He emphasized that the CCP’s vaccine diplomacy has “conditions attached, certain requirements, and perhaps stronger requirements for other countries”, and these countries can only receive vaccines if they agree.
The joint statement of the four heads of state also said, “We will also strengthen scientific and technological cooperation in the field of clinical trials and genome monitoring to speed up the end of this (viral) pandemic and establish better health and security.”
Solving the climate crisis
The statement said that the four countries have joined forces to tackle the climate crisis and strive to limit the increase in temperature (compared to pre-industrial) to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
“We will cooperate to establish a responsible and resilient clean energy supply chain, and will strengthen disaster-resistant infrastructure and climate information system alliances. The four countries will work together to achieve success at COP26 and G20 summits to maintain the current climate needed. Ambition and level of innovation.”
Key and emerging technologies cooperate to create a secure 5G
The statement said, “We have established cooperation in key and emerging technologies to ensure that the design, development, governance, and use of technologies are influenced by our shared values and respect for universal human rights. We are working with the industry to promote safety, openness, and The deployment of transparent 5G and ultra-5G networks, and cooperation with a series of partners, promote innovation and promote trusted suppliers and methods.”
The statement also said that the four countries will work together to promote public-private cooperation. “In the development of technical standards, we will establish industry-specific contact groups to promote an open, inclusive, private sector-led, multi-stakeholder and based Consensus approach. We will also coordinate and cooperate in multilateral standardization organizations such as the International Telecommunication Union.”
Supply chain of key technologies and materials
The statement also stated that the four countries are addressing the supply chain issues of key technologies and materials, including semiconductors, and reaffirmed the four countries’ active commitment to establishing a flexible, diversified and secure key technology supply chain, while recognizing transparency and market-oriented issues. The importance of guiding government support measures and policies.
“We are monitoring the trends of key and emerging technologies in the future, starting from biotechnology, and identifying relevant cooperation opportunities.” The statement said, “We also released the Quad Principles on technology design, development, governance, and use today (Quad Principles) We hope that this will not only guide the region, but also guide the world towards responsible, open, and high-standard innovation.”
Infrastructure cooperation
In addition, the four countries also stated that a new Quad infrastructure partnership will be established and will meet regularly to coordinate work, map out the infrastructure needs of the region, and coordinate regional needs and opportunities. “We will cooperate to provide technical assistance, provide assessment tools for regional partners, and promote sustainable infrastructure development. We support the infrastructure work of the G7 and look forward to working with like-minded partners, including the European Union.”
“We reaffirm the G20 high-quality infrastructure investment principles and will renew our efforts to provide high-standard infrastructure in the Indo-Pacific region.” The statement said, “We emphasize support for major creditor countries to provide open, fair and transparent loans in accordance with international rules and standards Importance, including debt sustainability and accountability, and calls on all creditors to comply with these rules and standards.”
This remark is regarded by the outside world as a sword pointing to the CCP’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative. The “Belt and Road” infrastructure projects have been strongly condemned by Western countries in recent years and have been accused of being a “debt trap” of the CCP. The contracts signed by the CCP and partner countries are not transparent, and many small countries have fallen into a heavy debt crisis due to the “Belt and Road” initiative.
Cyberspace cooperation
The statement said that the four countries have begun new cooperation in cyberspace and pledged to work together to combat cyber threats, increase resilience, and protect their critical infrastructure. “In the space field, we will look for new cooperation opportunities and share satellite data for peaceful purposes, such as monitoring climate change, disaster response and sustainable use of marine resources, as well as respond to challenges in the shared field. We will also ensure The rules, norms, guidelines and principles for the sustainable use of outer space shall be negotiated.”
Start Quad Scholarship
The statement said, “This pilot scholarship program will provide 100 graduate scholarships for top science, technology, engineering, and mathematics graduate students in four countries. Through the Quad Fellowship, our next generation of STEM talents will be ready to lead Quad and Other like-minded partners move towards innovation and shape our common future.”
Fight against terrorism
The statement also said that in South Asia, the four countries will closely coordinate their foreign, economic and human rights policies in Afghanistan, and will deepen counter-terrorism and humanitarian cooperation in the coming months in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2593.
“We stand together to support the Afghan people and call on the Taliban to provide a safe passage for anyone who wishes to leave Afghanistan, and to ensure that the human rights of all Afghans, including women, children and minorities, are respected.”
Strengthen peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region
The statement said that the four countries will redouble their efforts to ensure that Quad becomes a force for peace, stability, security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. “To this end, we will continue to advocate compliance with international law, especially the international law covered by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to respond to the challenges to the rule-based maritime order, including challenges in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.”
Denuclearization of North Korea
The statement said that the four countries reiterated their commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions and confirmed the need to immediately resolve the issue of Japanese abductees. “We urge North Korea to comply with UN obligations and refrain from provocations. We also call on North Korea to engage in substantive dialogue.”
In addition, the four countries also called on the Myanmar military to end the violence and release all political prisoners.
Editor in charge: Lin Yan#
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