Article link: Quad leaders to deliver on vaccines, infrastructure, tech -U.S. official | Reuters
The Quad leaders composed of the United States President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are going to meet on Friday to discuss health, cybersecurity, and infrastructure. One of the major things expected to happen is for the Quad leaders to fulfill their commitment that they made in March to give one billion COVID-19 vaccines to countries in Asia. Also expected is for the Quad countries to make semiconductor supply chains to compete with China. The United States said “This is a standalone grouping and has nothing to do with the recently inaugurated AUKUS. This is an informal grouping. It does not address security issues”.
The Quad leaders have come together to stand against the threat that China poses. They are not a military alliance but they will help each other through trade and combating the COVID-19 pandemic. China has in the past been angry at the Quad and compared it to a Cold War construct. This could along with the formation of AUKUS create an arms race in the region. China has already had a very rapid military expansion in recent years and this is causing rising tensions between nearby countries. The Quad leaders are also trying to create supply chains to circumnavigate China. This will make it so if anything bad happens with China the countries will still be able to keep some of the important supply chains intact.
The Quad is an IGO formed by Australia, Japan, India, and the United States. It is an alliance that is made to combat the growing power of China through the making of supply chains and creation of infrastructure. It has been compared to Cold War constructs such as NATO by China even though the Quad itself does not deal with security issues. However, members of the Quad are in military alliances with each other and have formed new agreements most recently between the United States and Australia with AUKUS. If Quad is successful with their goals it will limit the power that China has.