President Joe Biden met virtually with the leaders of Australia, Japan and India on Friday as part of his efforts to build a regional alliance to contain the growing power of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The White House said that the meeting of countries it has taken to calling ‘The Quad’ shows the importance Biden places on the Indo-Pacific region, and that the discussions focused on strategies to cooperate on economic growth, fighting Covid-19, and climate change.
India and Australia have both expressed interest in cooperating more closely with the US in ensuring regional security. The meeting announced financing agreements to support manufacturing of Covid-19 vaccines in India to counter Chinese efforts to enhance its diplomacy with its own vaccines.
The meeting also laid the groundwork for an in-person meeting between the leaders of the four countries later this year. Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported that the countries had also agreed to work together to secure rare earth minerals used in electric cars, motors and other electronics, a resource which China has in abundance.
[Image: Gage Skidmore]