Quad: The NATO of Asia?

 US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo travelled to Japan to held talks with his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan during the Quad ministerial meeting.

The trip was important for USA as can be seen from the fact that after the POTUS tested positive for Covid-19, Pompeo cancelled most of his Asia trip, except this Quad meet.

It's obvious why this meet was a priority for USA. Washington was at loggerheads with Beijing over a wide range of issues from Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus to its imposition of a new security law in Hong Kong and ambitions in the South China Sea.

 Pompeo criticised China's policy of “exploitation, corruption, and coercion” during the meet. His counterparts though; namely Australia’s Marise Payne, Japan’s Toshimitsu Motegi & India's S. Jaishankar were more diplomatic in their tone. 

In his speech, S. Jaishankar spoke of shared commitments that Quad members have "as vibrant & pluralistic democracies with shared values". Australia’s Marise Payne and Japan’s Toshimitsu Motegi also made similar points, outlining visions for a peaceful and inclusive Indo-Pacific, but without specifically naming China.

The nature & the vision with which Quad was championed by Japan's Ex-PM Abe seems to have changed over time. Abe's agenda behind forming Quad was to step up the co-operation of region's major economies. In this meet, it looked as the only agenda was to oppose China's aggression. 

The Quad seems redundant now as all the parties involved, have been pushing back on China on their own now.

USA has started its trade war which has been going on for a year now. Japan has begun converting its ships into aircraft carrier to counter China's naval expansion. Australia  has made a legislation to curb foreign influence which mainly targets China. And India's deadly border conflict with China is known worldwide now.

   China responded just a day after the meet with the Chinese embassy in Japan stating that United States should stop "unprovoked" accusations and attacks on the country. The embassy further accused Pompeo of repeatedly fabricating lies about China and maliciously creating political confrontation.