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[global times special correspondent in the united states xiao da global times reporter guo yuandan yue linwei chen kang liu yupeng zhen xiang] on the 21st and 22nd, the us-japan-india-australia "quadrilateral security dialogue" (quad) leaders' summit (hereinafter referred to as the "quadrilateral summit") was held in wilmington, delaware, the hometown of us president biden. cable news network (cnn) said that this was biden's "last effort" to leave his foreign policy legacy in the face of a transition of power to "balance china's growing influence." some media reporters even captured through cameras that the first topic of this summit was aimed at china. although the joint statement issued by the summit did not mention china, afp quoted us officials as saying that "confronting china" became the "main agenda" of the summit. in an interview with the global times on the 22nd, many chinese scholars believed that this reflected the united states' attempt to provoke great power confrontation in the asia-pacific region in order to maintain its hegemony. however, given that biden and japanese prime minister fumio kishida are both about to leave office and australia will hold a general election next year, some western media called this summit a "farewell summit." the chinese ministry of foreign affairs has previously stated that china has always believed that any regional cooperation mechanism should not target third parties or harm the interests of third parties. creating closed and exclusive "small circles" targeting other countries goes against the trend of the times, runs counter to the wishes of regional countries, is unpopular, and is doomed to fail.

targeting china's remarks were discovered by journalists

"in the final months of his presidency, biden welcomed the leaders of australia, india and japan to his hometown of delaware to promote diplomacy against china." reuters said that the agenda of the summit included strengthening security cooperation in the indian ocean. john kirby, strategic communications coordinator of the white house national security council, said that the leaders of the four countries discussed the challenges that still exist in the "indo-pacific region", including the so-called "china's aggressive military actions, unfair trade practices and tensions in the taiwan strait."

cnn said biden deliberately hosted the "quad summit" in his hometown of wilmington, delaware, and put his personal stamp on the summit: he arranged bilateral meetings with the leaders of the other three countries in his private residence and held the summit at the local high school where he once studied. the report said that india was supposed to host this year's summit. india originally planned to host the summit in january this year, but it was postponed because biden "had no time to travel" during the election. not long ago, at the request of the united states, india finally agreed to exchange the host country.

on the 21st local time, the quadrilateral security dialogue (quad) leaders' summit of the united states, japan, india and australia was held in delaware, the united states. (the paper)

regarding biden's careful arrangement of this summit, cnn stated that in biden's view, this was a suitable ending to the partnership arrangement he had been promoting. in 2021, biden proposed to elevate quad to the level of a leaders' summit, believing that this was the key to reactivating the power of the "indo-pacific alliance" to "counter china's growing influence."

the u.s. "politico" said on the 21st that although quad is considered biden's iconic "foreign policy legacy", the white house has vehemently denied that it is a "tool for the united states to contain china" in the indo-pacific region. u.s. president's national security advisor sullivan publicly declared that the summit "is not aimed at other countries."

however, what embarrassed the us side was that biden and senior us officials' remarks against china that day were recorded by reporters outside the venue. "politico news network" said that shortly after the summit began, when participants thought that reporters could no longer hear the sound, the camera captured the first topic announced by us secretary of state blinken: china. in addition, reporters outside the venue also heard biden accuse "china of continuing to be aggressive in the south china sea, the east china sea, south asia and the taiwan strait." the report said that these words that biden and senior us officials did not want to make public "undermined the credibility of the us's public comments."

li haidong, a professor at china foreign affairs university, said in an interview with the global times on the 22nd that the "quadrilateral security summit" is actually completely dominated by the united states and is a strategic tool to more effectively promote allies to confront china in the region and globally. although india, australia and japan have their own interests in joining, the nature of the mechanism itself serving the strategic needs of the united states will not change.

more content related to the south china sea and the east china sea

the "quad" summit issued a joint statement after the meeting. according to afp, although china was not named in the joint statement, it accused "coercion and intimidation in the south china sea". the joint statement also announced that the quad coast guard will hold a joint patrol operation next year and plans to expand the "indo-pacific maritime awareness partnership". the report said that the summit sent a signal to beijing that the focus of the quad mechanism has further shifted to security issues, reflecting the "growing concern of the quad about china". in addition to targeting china, the joint statement also accused north korea of ​​launching missiles and conducting cyber attacks, and expressed concerns about russia's military cooperation with north korea.

according to japan's kyodo news, the joint statement confirmed that the four parties will strengthen cooperation in the field of maritime security. the four maritime security agencies will improve "interoperability" and implement joint surveillance activities and training throughout the indo-pacific region starting next year. the four parties will also provide maritime surveillance technology to other indo-pacific countries to "curb illegal maritime actions." in addition, in response to the previous conflict between chinese and philippine ships in the south china sea, the joint statement added the statement of "condemning dangerously maneuvering ships."

the hindustan times said on the 22nd that compared with the joint statement after the hiroshima "quad summit" in may last year, this year's joint statement contained more content related to the south china sea and the east china sea and was tougher in tone. although china was not named in the statement, the statement used the "toughest language" to describe china's activities in the indo-pacific region and expressed "serious concerns" about the situation in the south china sea and the east china sea, including "serious concerns" about the so-called "militarization" of islands and reefs and "coercive behavior" in the south china sea.

ding duo, deputy director of the institute of marine law and policy at the china institute of south china sea studies, said in an interview with the global times on the 22nd that in recent years, this regional small multilateral mechanism led by the united states has frequently made its presence felt on issues such as the south china sea. the joint statement of the "quadrilateral summit" accused the so-called "coercion and bullying" in the south china sea, which is exaggerating the "china threat theory" in an attempt to reduce the space for china to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests. ding duo said: "behind this exaggeration of the 'china threat theory' is essentially the united states' concern that its own maritime hegemony and dominant position in the western pacific region is threatened."

according to russian news agency, russian foreign ministry spokesperson zakharova recently commented on the "quad summit" and said that the united states and other western countries are trying to completely control the eurasian continent. they are willing to blow up civilian infrastructure such as the "nord stream" natural gas pipeline in the west... now, they need to start from the east. she said that alliances such as quad and aukus were introduced into the region under the banner of "maintaining security", but in fact they are "definitely aggressive nato-style alliances."

"farewell summit" and "survival crisis"

although the "quad summit" attempted to show unity by hyping up the "china threat theory", reuters said that this was a "farewell summit" hosted by the outgoing biden. biden is most worried about whether the "quad summit" can continue to exist after he leaves office. biden will hand over the baton in january next year, and he does not know whether it will be his vice president harris or his opponent, republican presidential candidate trump, who will take over.

according to the us politico, both biden and fumio kishida are about to step down, and australia is also facing a general election next year, which makes the future of quad uncertain. the report said biden tried to downplay people's concerns. when taking a group photo at the summit, biden put his arm around indian prime minister modi's shoulders and said: "the quad mechanism will continue to exist after november."

"hype cannot cover up quad's existential crisis," chellaney, emeritus professor of strategic studies at the new delhi center for policy research and former adviser to india's national security council, wrote in nikkei asia on the 20th that except for targeting china, this group of only four countries is almost unable to cope with various global challenges. the six working groups set up by quad in emerging technologies, climate change, cybersecurity, infrastructure and other areas have "made almost no concrete progress" in recent years.

ding duo said that looking at the cooperation results of the four parties of quad in the past few years, it can be found that they mainly focus on the political and diplomatic level, but this is more of a gesture. "once it involves substantive issues and requires all parties to pay real money, the progress of the four-party cooperation will be very slow."

turkey's anadolu news agency said that the formation of the quad mechanism was based on an imagined and exaggerated "fear of china" and that it "had an unstable foundation from the beginning because its roots were more in fear than in common belonging". the report said that in the quad four-party geopolitical puzzle, india is a relatively unstable member. although washington always tries to get new delhi on its side, india's "strategic desire" is to use its relationship with the united states to seek benefits for itself. similarly, once australia and china get closer, changes in australia's relations with china will also affect the quad.

li haidong said that all parties in quad have their own interests and calculations, especially some members have extensive economic and cultural ties with china. it will take further observation in the future to see whether the mechanism will continue to exist loosely or further strengthen the alliance.