Leaders of Australia, the United States, India and Japan have voiced “serious concern” about “coercive and intimidating maneuvers” in the South China Sea and announced plans for joint Coast Guard activities in the region.
The comments were part of a sprawling list of initiatives issued by a summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, commonly known as the Quad, hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden in his home state of Delaware, about 177 kilometers (110 miles) northeast of Washington.
The gathering was the fourth in-person Quad leader summit and took place as prime ministers Narendra Modi of India, Fumio Kishida of Japan and Anthony Albanese of Australia head to the U.N. General Assembly that kicks off Monday in New York.
Members of the coast guards of India and Japan and the Australian Border Force will sail aboard a U.S. Coast Guard vessel in the Indo-Pacific region as part of "a first-ever Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission in 2025," said the summit's joint statement, released Saturday.
“We continue to express serious concern about the militarization of disputed features, and coercive and intimidating maneuvers in the South China Sea,” it said. “We also oppose efforts to disrupt other countries’ offshore resource exploitation activities.”
None of the information issued by the White House about Biden’s weekend diplomacy mentioned China. But he was heard on a hot mic telling his counterparts at the Saturday evening summit that “China continues to behave aggressively, testing us all across the region.”
“It’s true in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, South China, South Asia and the Taiwan Straits,” the Associated Press reported Biden as saying at the gathering in Claymont, Delaware.
China and the Philippines have been engaged in a series of maritime confrontations in Manila's exclusive economic zone, defined as waters within 200 nautical miles of the Philippine coast. And in early August, two Chinese Air Force aircraft allegedly intimidated a Philippine Air Force aircraft during a routine patrol over a disputed South China Sea shoal.
China claims much of the resource-rich South China Sea, a key conduit for world trade, including waters that are also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.
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An earlier Quad initiative has helped more than two dozen countries monitor their waters for evidence of climate change, natural disasters and unlawful activity, a White House fact sheet said.
The Quad will now add electro-optical data and advanced analytic software “to sharpen the maritime domain awareness picture,“ and provide training in how to use these tools, with the first workshop taking place in India next year.
The summit’s “Wilmington Declaration” also called for an immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar and a return to inclusive democracy in a country torn apart by civil war since a bloody coup in 2021.
"The ongoing conflict and instability have serious implications for the region, including increases in transnational crime such as cybercrime, the illegal drug trade, and human trafficking. We restate our appeal to all States to prevent the flow of arms and dual-use material, including jet fuel," the statement said.
Prior to the summit, Biden held one-on-one meetings with each of the visiting leaders at his home in Wilmington, Delaware. Collectively, some termed the weekend meetings a farewell summit – a chance for Biden to say goodbye to partners in the final months of his presidency.
Asked if the Quad would survive after the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 5, Biden reportedly replied: “Way beyond November.”
Modi concurred. “Our message is, the Quad is here to stay,” AFP quoted the Indian leader as saying as the summit kicked off at Archmere Academy, a school Biden once attended
The first Quad summit took place in 2019, though the grouping has roots in collaborative efforts of the four countries to respond to the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.
The Quad last gathered at the foreign-minister level in Tokyo in July.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.