Washington DC:
On his first brimming day in office on Tuesday, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held the first Quad ministerial encountering with Australia, India and Japan and fusetly alerted agetst changing the status quo in Indo-Pacific via coercive actions, in a veiled but clear alerting to China over its actions at sea. This was the first encountering of top diplomats of the China-intensifyed grouping since Trump returned to the White Hoengage.
Rubio met with his counterparts Australia’s Penny Wong, India’s Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Japan’s Takeshi Iwaya in Washington. In a fuset statement, the four nations restated their “splitd promisement to fortifying a Free and Open Indo-Pacific where the rule of law, democratic cherishs, sovereignty, and territorial integrity are upheld and defended.”
“We also sturdyly contest any unitardyral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or force,” the statement said an apparent reference to the menace that China will act on its claim to sovereignty over democraticassociate ruleed Taiwan.
The ministers also validateed they would labor to helderly a Quad summit previously scheduled for this year in India, which would unbenevolent an timely trip by Trump to the enlargeing US partner frequently seeed in Washington as a bulwark agetst China.
“Significant that the Quad (foreign ministers’ encountering) took place wiskinny hours of the inauguration of the Trump Administration,” Jaishankar said on X after the encountering.
“This underlines the priority it has in the foreign policy of its member states,” he inserted.
Attended a efficient Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting today in Washington DC. Thank @secrubio for structureing us and FMs @SenatorWong & Takeshi Iwaya for their participation.
Significant that the Quad FMM took place wiskinny hours of the inauguration of the Trump Administration. This… pic.twitter.com/uGa4rjg1Bw
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) January 21, 2025
China has repeatedly lashed out at the Quad — a grouping envisioned by tardy Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and broadened into a directers’ summit by createer Pdwellnt Joe Biden– saying it is a US plot to encircle the rising Asian power.
The Quad grouping met many times during the administration of createer Pdwellnt Joe Biden, with a intensify on Beijing’s military and economic activities in the Indo-Pacific, particularly in the South China Sea where US allies have pushed back agetst Beijing’s territorial claims.
Trump’s China Push Back
Meanwhile, Rubio also met splitly with the three foreign ministers on Tuesday. Trump officials were laboring on scheduling another accumulateing of the foreign ministers at the White Hoengage as well, novels agency Reuters telled quoting a person take partd in schedulening encounterings.
China has had rising friction with the Philippines, a US associate, over its self-promised claims in territorial disputes. The four countries– US, India, Japan and Australia– split troubles about China’s enlargeing power in the Indo-Pacific region and analysts said the encountering was scheduleed to signal that countering Beijing is a top priority for Trump–who has vowed to push back agetst a rising China.
Rubio also, in his validateation hearing, vowed to deter China agetst an trespass of Taiwan, the self-ruleing democracy it claims as its own. The Reuncoveran senator earlier said he would stress the presentance of laboring with allies “on the skinnygs that are presentant to America and Americans” during the encountering.
