Establishing the Asian counterpart of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) might figure prominently at an online conference involving four countries to act as a regional counterweight to China.
Diplomatic leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the United States will begin the first in a series of talks on Thursday meant to give teeth to the allies' shared aim of establishing a free and open Indo-Pacific.
The four countries are the founding members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, otherwise known as Quad, or the Asian NATO. Organized in 2017, the Quad was an initiative of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
This informal military alliance aims to establish an "Asian Arc of Democracy." The plan is for Quad to ultimately include countries in central Asia, Mongolia, South Korea, the Southeast Asian countries, and "virtually all the countries on China's periphery, except for China itself."
Talk of this informal group transforming into a formal military bloc such as NATO has gotten louder since the latter half of 2020 when current Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga entered into military agreements with Australia, Indonesia and Vietnam. in pursuit of Quad's goal of a free and open Indo-Pacific.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet virtually with his counterparts from Quad. Discussions between Blinken and Quad foreign ministers are critical to advancing their shared goals of a free and open Indo-Pacific. Leaders will also coordinate their responses to COVID-19 and climate change.
Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden said China is America's "most serious competitor" in his first major policy speech since ascending the presidency on Jan. 20. He also said he'll call out China's economic and human rights violations.
"We will confront China's economic abuses," declared Biden.
He said the U.S. will resist China's "economic abuses, counter its aggressive, coercive action to push back on China's attack on human rights, intellectual property, and global governance."
His administration's relationship with Beijing won't only be confrontational, however.
"But we're also ready to work with Beijing when it's in America's interest to do so. We'll compete from a position of strength by building back better at home and working with our allies and partners."
Biden pledged to restore U.S. alliances and lead with multilateral diplomacy to meet international crises while reversing former president Donald Trump's "America First" foreign policy.
Blinken will later discuss shared global challenges with counterparts from France, Germany and the United Kingsom in a separate call on Thursday, said Ned Price, the state department spokesman.
