Foreign Minister Marise Payne and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed China's regional "malign activity" before joining their counterparts from India and Japan in a show of strength in Tokyo. Once described as a "security diamond of democracies" by former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, revived on the sidelines of United Nations in New York a year ago, is clearly back in business.
The in-person meeting of the four "Quad" foreign ministers in Tokyo on Tuesday sent an unmistakeable message to Beijing.
"The fact that the Quad foreign ministers have met in person, in the midst of a pandemic, sends a message of commitment. China and ASEAN countries will need to factor it in as a new staple in the Indo-Pacific’s diplomatic calendar," said Euan Graham, senior fellow at the Singapore-based International Institute of Strategic Studies...MORE
