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Biden hosts Indo-Pacific leaders as China concerns grow


Meeting with the leaders of India, Australia and Japan, U.S. President Joe Biden
declared Friday that the U.S. and other members of the Indo-Pacific alliance known
as "the Quad," are showing they "know how to get things done" in an increasingly
complicated corner of the globe.

Biden and his fellow leaders- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga
- are all grappling with a rising China that Biden has accused of coercive economic
practices and unsettling military maneuvering.


They made no direct mention of China as they opened the group's first ever
in-person meeting, but the Pacific power was sure to be a major focus
as they headed into private talks.

On broader issues, Biden has repeatedly made a case that the U.S. and
like-minded allies need to deliver results on the COVID-19 pandemic,
climate change and other fundamental matters with the world in what
he's deemed a race between democracies and autocracies.


Morrison and the others seemed to pick up that message as they opened
Friday's summit.
"We are liberal democracies, believe in a world order that favors freedom,"
Morrison said. "And we believe in a free and open Indo-Pacific,
because we know that's what delivers a strong, stable and prosperous region.


Before the gathering on Friday afternoon, Biden sat down with Modi
in the Oval Office. He was also to have a one-on-one with Suga, who is soon
to step down from his post.

With Modi by his side, Biden played up ties to India
- referencing Vice President Kamala Harris' Indian heritage and even
his own family ties to the subcontinent.
The president also made clear he saw tightening relations with the world's
biggest democracy - one that shares a neighborhood with Taliban-controlled
Afghanistan and China - as vital for both sides.
"I've long believed the U.S.-India relationship can help us solve an awful lot of
global challenges," Biden said.

Modi, who met with Harris and American business leaders on Thursday,
noted the importance of the Indian diaspora for the U.S. economy
and said he wanted to find ways the two countries could work together to
strengthen their respective economies.
At the afternoon summit, the Quad leaders were expected to announce
a coronavirus vaccine initiative and plans to bolster semiconductor supply chains.
Biden announced the Quad had created a program to bring graduate students
in science and technology to U.S. universities.

The Quad is an informal alliance formed during the response to the 2004
Indian Ocean tsunami that killed some 230,000 people. Biden has sought to
reinvigorate the alliance, putting a spotlight on a chief foreign policy goal:
greater attention to the Pacific and a rising China. The alliance met earlier
this year, virtually, and announced plans to boost vaccination manufacturing
in India.

The Japanese and Indian governments welcomed a recent announcement that
the U.S., as part of a new alliance with Britain and Australia, would equip Australia
with nuclear-powered submarines.
That will allow Australia to conduct longer patrols and give it an edge on
the Chinese navy. But the announcement infuriated France, which accused
the Biden administration of stabbing it in the back by squelching its own
$66 billion deal to provide diesel-powered submarines.


Tensions between Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron eased
after the two leaders spoke Wednesday and agreed to take steps to coordinate
more closely in the Indo-Pacific.
Michael Green, who served as senior director for Asia at the National Security
Council during the George W. Bush administration, said Japan and India
welcome the United States-United Kingdom-Australian alliance "because
it will really for the next 50 years reset the trajectories in naval power
in the Pacific and from the perspective of those countries stabilize things
as China massively builds up its naval forces."

But Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian has called it a reflection
of "outdated Cold War, zero-sum mentality and narrow-minded geopolitical
perception" that will intensify a regional arms race.
Beijing has also sought to push the notion that creation of the alliance
indicates the U.S. will favor Australia in the Quad at the expense of Japan
and India, said Bonny Lin, senior fellow for Asian security at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
China also has tried to undercut the Quad as out of step with other nations
in Southeast Asia and portrayed members of the Quad as "U.S. pawns,"
Lin said.
The White House meeting played out as China continues making shows of force
in the region concerning Taiwan.

The meeting also concludes a busy week of wider diplomacy for Biden,
who addressed the U.N. General Assembly and hosted a virtual global summit
on COVID-19.
Biden and leaders of other wealthy nations face criticism about the slow pace
of global vaccinations and the inequity of access to shots between wealthier
and poorer nations. The pushback from leaders of low- and moderate-income
countries come though Biden announced plans for the U.S. to double to 1 billion
doses its purchase of Pfizer vaccine to share with the world.

Modi was expected to bring up Afghanistan during his meeting with Biden
and to raise objections to the Taliban's effort to get recognition
at the United Nations. The Indian government also has concerns about
the influence it believes Pakistan's intelligence service exerted in how factions
of the Taliban divvied up government offices in Kabul.

Suga was expected to discuss China, North Korea, Afghanistan,
the COVID-19 response and climate change. He highlighted the alliance's
"strong solidarity between our four nations, and our unwavering commitment to
the common vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific."
North Korea last week said it successfully launched ballistic missiles from
a train for the first time, striking a target in the sea
some 800 kilometers (500 miles) away.