Quad leaders meet in Tokyo

Our live coverage of the Quad summit in Tokyo has ended. Read more about it:

The four Quad leaders wrapped up today’s summit with a joint statement that vowed their “steadfast commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific that is inclusive and resilient.”

The statement also reflected on how rapidly the loose partnership has developed. After having largely fallen apart in 2008, the Quad was revived in 2017, and the leaders of the four members met for the first time last year.

Today marks their fourth joint event, and their second in-person summit, the statement said.

Veiled warning: The statement highlighted “challenges to the maritime rules-based order, including in the East and South China Seas” — both waters that have long been contested, with overlapping territorial claims by numerous countries.

China claims almost all of the vast South China Sea as its sovereign territory. It has been building up and militarizing its facilities there, turning islands into military bases and airstrips, and allegedly creating a maritime militia that could number hundreds of vessels.

Meanwhile, in the East China Sea, China claims sovereignty over the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, also known as the Diaoyu Islands. In recent years, the US has reiterated its promise to defend the islands in the event of foreign aggression.

War in Ukraine: The leaders also discussed their responses to the ongoing war and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, and “reiterated our strong resolve to maintain the peace and stability in the region,” the statement said. “We underscored unequivocally that the centerpiece of the international order is international law, including the UN Charter, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states.”

Asia crises: The statement also condemned North Korea’s recent surge in missile testing; called for an end to violence in Myanmar, where the military seized control in a coup last year; and pledged to continue cooperating on pandemic response, infrastructure investment, climate action and more.

Aircraft carriers and warships participate in the second phase of the Malabar naval exercise, a joint exercise comprising of India, the United States, Japan and Australia, in the Northern Arabian Sea in 2020.

Though not a formal military alliance, the armed forces of the Quad joined together represent a formidable group.

The United States has Asia-Pacific’s most powerful military, according to the 2021 Asia Power Index from the Lowy Institute, an independent Australian think tank.

The index puts India as the fourth most powerful of 26 nations in its rankings. Japan ranks seventh and Australia eighth.

China, the country seen as the Quad’s biggest concern, ranks second.

When looking specifically at military capabilities, the index measures defense spending, military and paramilitary forces, training, readiness and sustainment, combat experience, command and control capabilities, weapons and platforms, signature capabilities and Asian military posture.

The US rates at the top of all those categories except military and paramilitary forces, where India, with more than 3 million troops, ranks No. 1.

Australia’s top ranking is No. 3, for both combat experience and command and control.

Japan’s highest rank is No. 5 for weapons and platforms.

In its key findings, the Lowy report notes, “US partners are enhancing their collective deterrence to support a military balance. Yet Asia’s deepening security dilemma presents a significant risk of war.”

Looking at China’s overall influence in the region, which measures economic and diplomatic influence among other factors, the 2021 survey saw a decline in Beijing’s sway.

“China’s comprehensive power has fallen for the first time, with no clear path to undisputed primacy in the Indo-Pacific,” the key findings say.

Leaders of the Quad nations meet in the East Room of the White House on September 24, 2021 in Washington, DC.

The Quad has its roots in the response to the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, when the four countries set up a “regional core group” to help relief efforts. But the partnership in its current form was created in 2007, and held its first meeting in May that year.

The countries shared “fundamental values” such as freedom and democracy, and common strategic interests, he said.

The initiative fell apart in 2008 under intense pressure from China and the threat of economic retaliation, said Cleo Paskal, a non-resident senior fellow for the Indo-Pacific at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

But it was revived in 2017 amid renewed concerns about China’s rapid rise as a global superpower and Beijing’s increasingly aggressive foreign policy.

Since then, the group has grown more active, with the four heads of state holding a symbolic virtual meeting in March 2021 — then meeting in person for the first time in September that year.

US President Joe Biden’s crusade against authoritarian leaders abroad is complicated, constantly, by the messiness of his democracy at home.

The leader who so forcefully condemns aggressors and so completely marshals the world community against Russia notoriously failed to marshal the senators he needed to enact a lasting domestic agenda.

He’s bent on ensuring that the Ukrainian and Taiwanese people can choose their own leaders in free elections, but a shocking number of Republicans continue to reject his own election victory.

He sputters trying to explain a teetering economy to Americans, which could cost his party control of Congress in elections later this year.

The Senate is so paralyzed by the filibuster, which gives a minority the ability to squash legislation, that no elected leaders seem to be seriously talking about federal legislation to deal with some of the largest American problems:

To name a few.

Read the full analysis:

President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Akasaka Palace, Monday, May 23, 2022, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Related article Analysis: Biden finds unity abroad. He's losing it at home

US President Joe Biden’s first meeting with his new Australian counterpart focused in part on the war in Ukraine, according to a White House statement.

They also agreed to “work closely” on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework — Biden’s new economic plan for the region — and to address “the existential threat posed by climate change,” the statement added.

This is Albanese’s first diplomatic event as Prime Minister, after being sworn in on Monday.

US President Joe Biden “condemned Russia’s unjustifiable war against Ukraine” during his bilateral meeting with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the White House said in a statement.

Modi has been reluctant to condemn the war in Ukraine. India and Russia have long had friendly relations, with New Delhi reliant on Russian-made arms.

The two leaders also addressed other topics during their meeting, according to the White House, including economic cooperation, action on climate change, and vaccine production in India.

Shigeru Yoshida, Prime Minister of Japan, signs the Bilateral Security Treaty with the United States in San Francisco, on Sept. 8, 1951.

The Quad itself is not a formal military alliance, but alliances and agreements exist among its members.

US and Japan: Foremost among these is the US-Japan Mutual Security Treaty, a document signed in 1951 at the same time as the Treaty of San Francisco, which formally ended World War II.

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) calls the US-Japan pact “the cornerstone of U.S. security policy in East Asia for decades.” Article IV of the treaty commits Washington to defend Japanese territory and Japan to defend US forces within its territories.

And those forces are substantial. According to a November report from the CFR, more than 60,000 US active duty military personnel and Department of Defense civilians are permanently stationed in Japan, more than any other foreign country.

US and Australia: Australia also shares a mutual defense treaty with the US: the Australia, New Zealand and United States Security Treaty, or ANZUS Treaty, signed in 1951.

While the US and New Zealand no longer have a security relationship through ANZUS, US-Australia links have remained strong, with Canberra even invoking its defense clause to help Washington respond to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the US.

In a webpage about what it calls US-Australia “mateship,” the Australian Embassy in Washington notes that 500 Australian defense personnel are stationed in the US while US Marines are stationed in Darwin, in Australia’s Northern Territory.

Apart from the US, the other Quad countries have been setting up bilateral security arrangements.

Japan and Australia: In January, Canberra and Tokyo signed a “reciprocal access agreement,” which streamlines procedures for their militaries to access each other’s facilities and enhance joint exercises and training.

That pact built upon a joint security declaration of 2007, under which the two set up joint defense exercises and agreed to cooperate on areas such as maritime and aviation security and counterterrorism among others.

India and Australia similarly agreed on a “comprehensive strategic partnership” in 2020. Part IV of that pact said, “both sides agreed to continue to deepen and broaden defense cooperation by enhancing the scope and complexity of their military exercises and engagement activities to develop new ways to address shared security challenges.”

India and Japan: Also in 2020, India and Japan signed an Agreement on Reciprocal Provision of Supplies and Services, which makes it easier for the two countries’ militaries to share logistics in joint endeavors.

And Washington and New Delhi have been forging stronger ties in recent years. At a meeting of their defense ministers in Washington earlier this year, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced a new pact to cooperate in space, deepen cooperation in cyberspace and expand “information sharing partnership across all warfighting domains.”

US President Joe Biden, right, shakes hands with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at a bilateral meeting alongside the Quad Summit at Kantei Palace, in Tokyo, on Tuesday.

US President Joe Biden congratulated newly-elected Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in remarks delivered ahead of their closed-door bilateral meeting on Tuesday.

Albanese was elected on Saturday and sworn in as Prime Minister on Monday.

Biden thanked Albanese for arriving at the Quad summit so soon after taking office, and praised the US-Australia relationship as an anchor of prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.

Albanese then spoke, sharing a story about a program he participated in as a young man in his 20s, during which he spent five weeks in the United States.

Biden stood up and pretended to walk off, eliciting laughter from reporters, before smiling and shaking Albanese’s hand. “You’re a brave man,” he said.

Albanese also praised the longstanding US-Australia alliance, which marked its 70th anniversary in 2021. He added that he looked forward to welcoming Biden and the leaders of India and Japan at the next Quad summit, which will be held in Australia in 2023.

US President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese are now delivering opening remarks before their bilateral meeting behind closed doors.

Albanese is fresh to the job, having just been elected Prime Minister Saturday and sworn in Monday — right before the Tuesday summit.

US President Joe Biden and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi hold a bilateral meeting alongside the Quad Summit at Kantei Palace in Tokyo on May 24.

US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered remarks to reporters before heading into a bilateral meeting, with both leaders praising their countries’ relationship and laying out several areas of cooperation.

Biden spoke first, highlighting the newly-unveiled Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, his economic plan for the region, as well as ongoing efforts to support Covid-19 vaccine production in India.

He then raised the war in Ukraine — a major theme at today’s summit.

Biden said he and Modi would discuss the effect the war has had “on the entire global world order.”

“The US and India are going to continue consulting closely on how to mitigate these negative effects,” Biden said.

“There is so much that our countries can and will do together, and I’m committed to making the US-India partnership among the closest we have on Earth.”

India is the only Quad member yet to condemn Russia’s actions or impose sanctions on Moscow.

Modi delivered his remarks next, calling Quad meetings this morning “very positive and productive.” He praised the US-India relationship as “a partnership of trust” and force for global good, highlighting their “common interests and shared values” as well as economic cooperation.

He did not mention the war in Ukraine.

A quip from Biden: After the two leaders spoke, they continued sitting for a moment to allow press photos — a brief silence broken almost immediately by reporters shouting questions about Russia.

“Will you push Prime Minister Modi to take a tougher stance on Russia?” one journalist said. Another asked: “Did you ask Prime Minister Modi to wean himself off of Russian oil?”

Watch: These are the key issues at the talks

US President Joe Biden is now holding his first of two bilateral meetings today, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Biden will meet later this afternoon with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting at Hyderabad House, on December 6, 2021 in New Delhi, India.

The Quad summit is taking place exactly three months after Russia invaded Ukraine — and experts say the war will likely be a major issue on the table.

But not all Quad members are aligned on the conflict.

The United States, Australia and Japan have all taken strong stances against the war, imposing sanctions on Russia and its oligarchs. But India, like China, has refused to condemn the invasion outright, and abstained from voting on UN resolutions demanding Moscow stop its attack.

India’s response has illuminated Russia’s outsized influence in Asia, where arms sales and no-strings-attached trade have allowed Moscow to exploit regional fault lines and weaker ties to the West.

Why India is tied to Russia: India has long enjoyed friendly relations and a close defense relationship with Moscow; most estimates suggest more than 50% of India’s military equipment comes from Russia.

These supplies are vital, given India’s border tensions with both China and Pakistan. Experts say India isn’t looking at the situation in Ukraine in terms of their relationship with that country — it’s thinking about the dangers in its own backyard.

The rest of the Quad: India’s position has caused “a significant amount of frustration” among the other three bloc members, said Ken Jimbo, a professor in the faculty of policy management at Japan’s Keio University.

But, he added, but “it also reminds us that we do not really have the luxury to lose India from the Quad — so obviously, we are going to pursue what we can agree (on) at this point together with India.”

Read more:

Related article Analysis: Russia's attack on Ukraine reveals fault lines in Asia

President Joe Biden speaks at the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity launch event at the Izumi Garden Gallery on May 23 in Tokyo.

After months of all-consuming attention on Russia’s war in Ukraine, Joe Biden’s debut visit as President to Asia is an opportunity to renew what he views as this century’s challenge: Confronting a rising China through a system of renewed economic and military partnerships.

Administration officials have acknowledged that senior foreign policy leaders inside the administration, along with the President himself, have been preoccupied over the past months with maintaining a united Western front against Russia and providing Ukraine military and economic assistance.

But Sullivan discounted the suggestion that Biden had been distracted from his Asia initiatives.

“We actually don’t regard this as a tension between investing time, energy and attention in Europe and time, energy and attention in the Indo-Pacific. We regard this as mutually reinforcing,” Sullivan said.

“For us, there is a certain level of integration and a symbiosis in the strategy we are pursuing in Europe and the strategy we’re pursuing in the Indo-Pacific and President Biden’s unique capacity to actually stitch those two together, is, I think, going to be a hallmark of his foreign policy presidency.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks the Quad leaders summit in Tokyo, on Tuesday. 

Australia’s new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese tweeted a photo of himself with the three other Quad leaders on Tuesday, confirming they would meet again in Australia next year for a third summit.

Today is the second time the four leaders have held an in-person summit; their first meeting was in September last year.

US President Joe Biden speaks during a joint news conference with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo on May 23.

US President Joe Biden’s comment in Tokyo on Monday that Washington would intervene militarily if China attacks Taiwan sent shockwaves through the region.

That’s because it appeared to be a marked change from a decades-old policy of “strategic ambiguity,” under which the US has remained deliberately vague about whether it would come to the democratically ruled island’s defense in the case of an attack by China.

The White House swiftly walked back the comments, saying they did not in fact reflect a change in policy — a move that suggested either Biden had misspoken or that his comments were misconstrued.

But at least one analyst who spoke to CNN wonders if the apparently mixed messages are part of a deliberate plan by the White House to communicate its support to allies in the region while avoid crossing China’s red lines.

Corey Wallace, assistant professor at Kanagawa University in Japan, pointed out that this was the third time in recent months that Biden had said the US would protect Taiwan from a Chinese attack — and the third time his comments had been hastily reeled in.

The fact that Biden continues to make such statements may indicate a pattern — and be a way of communicating different messages to different audiences, he added.

The US’ policy of “strategic ambiguity” is designed to avoid antagonizing China, which is adamant the democratically self-ruled island of Taiwan is part of its territory, despite never having ruled it.

Beijing has pointedly not ruled out taking the island by military force, so it’s not surprising that Biden’s comments were celebrated in Taiwan.

Given the comments seemed to raise the possibility of a military clash between the US and China, it’s also not surprising that China responded angrily — warning Washington that “those who play with fire will certainly burn themselves”.

Asked on Monday at a news conference in Japan if Washington would come to Taipei’s aid in the event of a Chinese military move on the island, Biden had said, “That’s the commitment we made.”

He also compared a potential invasion of Taiwan by China to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, warning, “It will dislocate the entire region.”

Wallace, like other analysts, felt the reference to Ukraine was particularly provocative to China.

But again, while this appears to undermine the policy of “strategic ambiguity,” there also appears to be a get-out clause.

“Biden could probably spin this as meaning an invasion of Taiwan would be like Ukraine in terms of unsettling the security environment,” Wallace said. 

Watch Biden’s comments on Taiwan:

A Taiwan Navy Tuo Chiang-class corvette shoots decoy flares during a military exercise off the shore in Keelung, Taiwan, on Jan. 7.

Tensions in the Taiwan Strait loom over the Quad summit in Tokyo today.

Relations between Beijing and Taipei are at the lowest point in decades, with the Chinese military in recent months sending record numbers of warplanes near the self-governing democratic island.

And US President Joe Biden’s comments on Monday — suggesting the United States would be willing to defend Taiwan militarily if China attacks — quickly caught Beijing’s attention.

“On issues concerning China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and other core interests, there is no room for compromise,” said Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian added, “We urge the US to stop saying or doing anything in violation of the ‘One China’ principle and the three China-US Joint Communiqués … Those who play with fire will certainly burn themselves.”

Ukraine comparisons: Some experts have drawn parallels between China-Taiwan tensions and the ongoing war in Ukraine following Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion.

In March, Taipei’s foreign minister warned that Beijing was closely watching Ukraine to evaluate its own strategy toward Taiwan.

Beijing claims Taiwan as its own, despite the island never having been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party — and has not ruled out taking it by force.

“The danger will be that the Chinese leaders think that the Western reaction to the Russian aggression is weak and not coherent, and not having any impact. The Chinese might take that as a positive lesson,” Wu said.

China-Russia ties: China has repeatedly refused to condemn Russian actions in Ukraine or impose sanctions on Moscow. Earlier this month, China’s Foreign Ministry criticized the UN for adopting a resolution on Russian abuses in Ukraine, accusing the body of “double standards” and of tolerating aggression by some nations while condemning others.

Police use water cannon to disperse student protestors in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on May 19.

In a statement last week, Human Rights Watch urged the Quad leaders to “address human rights crises and democratic backsliding in Asia.”

“The Quad needs to place Asia’s massive human rights and humanitarian crises at the heart of its discussions and decisions,” said John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at HRW. “Genuine security in the region depends on people in Asia being able to fully exercise their fundamental human rights and democratic freedoms.”

The statement highlighted several pressing issues in the region:

A Chinese air strip is visible beside structures and buildings on Mischief Reef in the Spratly group of islands in the South China Sea, March 20, 2022.

The Quad has increasingly been seen as a counterweight to China’s growing reach in the region, with all four nations experiencing turbulent relations with Beijing over the past few years.

China’s response: The strategic location of each of the Quad nations — at different corners of the Indo-Pacific and with China in between them — has rattled Beijing, which fears the potential for military encirclement. It has condemned the bloc as an anti-China “clique” that is emblematic of a “poisonous” Cold War mentality.

Heightening these tensions, China has reiterated its territorial claims and taken a harder line in response to perceived challenges. In recent years, China has built up its military positions in the South China Sea, despite a UN tribunal dismissing its territorial claims in the waterway. It has also ramped up threats against Taiwan — a self-governing island the Chinese Communist Party sees as part of its territory despite never having ruled it — and has sent fighter jets into its air defense zone.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends a news conference in Beijing on March 7. 

Alarmed by the growing ties between the Quad countries, Beijing will be closely watching the summit in Tokyo today.

In the lead-up to the meeting, China’s Foreign Ministry lashed out at the group for “destabilizing” the region, while putting the blame squarely on Washington.

On Monday, Biden suggested the US would be willing to defend Taiwan militarily if China attacks.

Under the “One China” policy, the US acknowledges China’s position that Taiwan is part of China but has never officially recognized Beijing’s claim to the self-governing island. The US provides Taiwan defensive weapons but has remained intentionally ambiguous on whether it would intervene militarily in the event of a Chinese attack.

Wang called US moves on Taiwan and the South China Sea — where Beijing’s territorial claims have brushed up against Washington’s insistence on free and open waters —  “particularly dangerous,” claiming they are aimed at destabilizing the region.

Economic plan: Wang also commented on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) — Biden’s economic plan for countering China in Asia — saying while Beijing is happy to see proposals conducive to regional cooperation, it is opposed to attempts to create division.