issuing time:
US President Biden invited the heads of Japan, Australia and India to visit Washington on the 24th to realize the first face-to-face “Quad” summit meeting. The alliance against China, which has successfully controlled the new crown epidemic and rapidly expanded its influence around the world, has a bright color. On the other hand, the temperature difference between the United States and Japan and India can also be seen during the talks. The latter hopes to avoid a full-scale conflict with the geographically neighboring economic power China.
According to Kyodo News, there is a temperature difference between Japan, the United States, Australia and India and China, and neighboring countries are wary of full-scale conflicts.
What are the results of the talks between the four countries that have their own ideas? Kyodo News reported that for the United States, which has shifted its focus from Afghanistan to China, the four countries with different distances and political conditions from China reached an agreement to hold summit meetings on a regular basis. The memory of the failure of the U.S. troops to retreat in Afghanistan in August is still fresh, and the U.S. intends to “cover it with the success of Quad” (the words of a relevant person in the U.S. government).
The most significant difference in position is India, which is unwilling to have a decisive deterioration in relations with neighboring China. From the US perspective, India’s position is “slightly backward” (relevant personage), so the presence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is indispensable. Although there have been criticisms of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s rare visit to the United States after deciding to resign, it is imperative to have face-to-face meetings rather than video conferences as in March in order to win over India. Therefore, it is necessary for the United States to invite Yoshihide Suga to go.
As a security mechanism with China in mind, the United States just announced the establishment of “AUKUS” with Britain and Australia on the 15th of this month. The Quad meeting was held immediately afterwards, which also reflected the intention to counteract China’s “extensive cooperation” (diplomatic speech).
According to the report, Australian Prime Minister Morrison, whose relations with China has deteriorated significantly, is committed to eliminating the color of “military alliance.” Australia plans to deploy nuclear-powered submarines under the framework of AUKUS. The fact that countries without nuclear power plants will own nuclear submarines has caused widespread concern. At the press conference after the summit meeting, Morrison hardly raised security issues. Even if he was repeatedly questioned by the media about the “message to China,” he passed through prevarication.
Over the past 20 years, Australia has been overly dependent on China as an export destination. In the process of various countries requesting to investigate the origin of the new crown epidemic, Australia became the target of China’s countermeasures. Yuan Jindong, an associate professor at the University of Sydney who studies international relations, pointed out that this is a multilateral platform that eliminates the need for Australia to face China alone.
India will restart the suspension of vaccine exports this spring due to the spread of the epidemic at the end of October to counter China, which has increased its influence through “vaccine diplomacy”. Modi welcomed the statement that “Quad will greatly help countries in the Indo-Pacific region.” On the other hand, he was absent from the meeting between US Vice President Harris and the Japan-Australia-India summit, revealing a temperature difference.
According to Kyodo News, the establishment of a multilateral cooperation system is “very welcome” for Japan, which is bound to confront China in the medium to long term (in the words of the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs). People close to Yoshihide Suga concluded that “the sense of presence as prime minister has been maintained to the last moment.” Because of the fear of becoming a “lame duck”, the invitation to visit the United States has become a life-saving straw. However, Japan’s complicated situation has not changed. Yoshihide Suga once stated that “we will not establish a siege to China or something”. As he said, Japan hopes to avoid the deterioration of relations with China and the negative impact on the economy. A source at the official residence pointed out that “Japan is in a difficult situation.” The new prime minister’s skills are facing a test.
.