Asia | Banyan

The Quad is finding its purpose, at last

An informal defensive coalition of four democracies has to prove its mettle

ON AGAIN, OFF AGAIN for years, the security grouping known as the Quad appears in recent months to be gaining purpose at last. Not least, the two members who are not part of the G7, Australia and India, have been invited to attend that club’s summit in Britain between June 11th and 13th, joining the two who are, America and Japan. A virtual gathering of the Quad’s leaders organised by Joe Biden in March was one of the American president’s first foreign-policy moves. There is talk of the group’s first in-person summit later in the year. Meanwhile, Congress has thrown its weight behind legislation designed to counter China. Among other things, it gives backing to the Quad by boosting co-operation in military and tech matters.

For the Quad’s new purpose has everything to do with China. Four decades of engagement, say some, have not made China a friendlier state nor moderated its behaviour. China’s competitive edge, notes Lisa Curtis, a former American official involved with Indo-Pacific policy and now at the Centre for a New American Security, a think-tank in Washington, “has sharpened across the military, economic, diplomatic and technological domains”.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Quad wrangle”

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