Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, February 13 (International Observation)U.S. Secretary of State’s ‘Clan’ Diplomacy Is Out of Time
Xinhua News Agency reporter Bai Xu Deng Xianlai
U.S. Secretary of State Blinken has recently visited many places in the Asia-Pacific region. On the 12th, he met with the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea in Hawaii. Earlier that day, he visited the Pacific island nation of Fiji. This is the first visit by a U.S. Secretary of State to Fiji in 37 years. On the 11th, he held a foreign ministers’ meeting of the “Quarter Security Dialogue” mechanism with the foreign ministers of Japan, India and Australia in Melbourne, Australia.
Analysts pointed out that Blinken’s trip was intended to tell the international community that the US government still attaches great importance to the Asia-Pacific region strategically. However, the United States is trying to win over some countries in the Asia-Pacific region by building a closed alliance system and creating camp confrontations. This will not help the United States achieve the purpose of increasing its influence, but will instead be against the backdrop of the current COVID-19 epidemic that continues to rage and the security situation is complex and sensitive. undermine regional stability and unity.
“Emphasis” on Asia Pacific
The foreign ministers’ meeting of the “Quarter Security Dialogue” mechanism held by the United States, Japan, India and Australia in Melbourne on the 11th is the top priority of Blinken’s trip. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said this is the fourth meeting between the four foreign ministers under the “Quartet Security Dialogue” mechanism since 2019, and the third face-to-face meeting.
The US-Japan-India-Australia “Quad Security Dialogue” mechanism was silent for a long time after it was established in 2007. After the United States proposed the “Indo-Pacific Strategy” in 2017, this mechanism was activated again. At this meeting, the United States made a commitment to strengthen cooperation with the three countries under the mechanism.
Australian current affairs commentator Greg Sheridan pointed out that when the situation in Ukraine was tense, Blinken still decided to visit Australia to participate in the conference, which was intended to send three signals: the US government is still committed to the affairs of the Asia-Pacific region, and can “one mind and two”. The U.S. government has invested a lot of diplomatic resources in the “Quartet Security Dialogue”; the U.S. government attaches great importance to the bilateral relationship between the United States and Australia.
In order to further highlight the “emphasis” on the Asia-Pacific region, the White House released the long-awaited “U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy” document on the same day as the Quartet Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue, claiming that it will strengthen cooperation with allies and partners and further expand cooperation in this region. Diplomatic presence, with particular emphasis on Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. Blinken’s visit to the Pacific island nation of Fiji after the foreign ministers’ meeting reflected this intention.
But in a joint press conference with Blinken, Fiji’s acting Prime Minister Haiyoum focused on the responsibility and practical actions of the United States in addressing climate change. Analysts pointed out that Fiji may not be interested in the practice of forming gangs in the United States out of consideration of its own situation. Mihai Sora, a researcher at the Australian think tank Lowy Institute for International Policy, pointed out that what the United States needs to realize is that climate change, natural disasters and the new crown epidemic are the issues that Fiji is more concerned about.
A move against the current
Analysts pointed out that peace and development are the current mainstream in the Asia-Pacific region and even the world. In particular, the world is still facing severe challenges such as the new crown epidemic. All countries need to strengthen solidarity and help each other in the same boat. Some countries have formed cliques in the Asia-Pacific region with a Cold War mentality, exaggerated threats and created confrontations. This approach goes against the general trend of regional and global unity and is particularly out of date and is destined to fail.
Stephen Manalak, former chairman of the Australia-India Chamber of Commerce, pointed out in an article that the foreign ministers’ meeting of the “Quartet Security Dialogue” did not achieve substantial results, but instead exposed the contradictions between the four countries. When the specific agenda touches the self-interest of each country, the outside world has to question the degree of unity of the mechanism. For example, the United States has made it one of the priorities of this meeting to jointly deal with the “Russian threat to Ukraine and Europe”, but India has long had close ties with Russia and will not be of one mind with the United States.
The United States is also trying to make the “Quartet Security Dialogue” a so-called “counter-China” bulwark in the Asia-Pacific region. But to observers, this idea is even more unrealistic. Tatyana Shomiyan, director of the Indian Studies Center of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, believes that taking India as an example, the country is cautious about the “Quartet Security Dialogue”. India has its own relations with China and does not want the mechanism to undermine India. China relations.
Manalak also said that the “Quartet Security Dialogue” has obvious differences in relations with China. China is the main trading partner of most countries in the Asia-Pacific region. In contrast, the limited trade participation of the United States in this region has to cast deep doubt on the credibility of US commitments in the region.