Quad leaders vow to oppose attempts to ‘change status quo by force’, with China and Russia on their minds
- A new maritime initiative launched at the Quad summit in Tokyo promises to enable partners ‘to fully monitor the waters on their shores’
- The Quad also vowed to cooperate on critical and emerging technologies, space and cybersecurity in talks largely aimed at countering China
Leaders of the four Quad nations vowed on Tuesday to oppose all attempts to “change the status quo by force” in the Indo-Pacific, as concerns about China and internal differences on Russia’s Ukraine war loomed over their highly-anticipated meeting.
The carefully worded statement did not explicitly name China or Russia.
With India thus far refraining from condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the statement also made no reference to Moscow’s aggression. Instead, it noted that the leaders “discussed our respective responses” to the conflict and “ongoing tragic humanitarian crisis”.
Asked about discussions regarding China, Kishida underscored that the Quad grouping was a forum to discuss and advance “practical cooperation” in the Indo-Pacific region, and was not targeting any particular country.
