US-led Quad coalition a ‘useful anti-China bulwark’ in Asia say people in 10 Asean countries
- But grouping should not expand membership, Southeast Asian respondents to Australian survey say
- Greatest support for coalition in Vietnam and the Philippines
A US-led, four-nation coalition could play a useful security role in Asia – particularly as a bulwark against China’s rising power – but should not be expanded, students, businesspeople and officials in 10 Asean countries have said, according to in a new survey.
The report written by Huong Le Thu, a senior analyst from Canberra-based Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said there was near consensus among the 276 people surveyed that the Quad, or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, should not seek to enlarge its membership beyond the United States, Japan, India and Australia.
But the institute also said that Southeast Asian perceptions of the Quad were diverse and there was no such thing as one “Asean view” of the grouping.
The Quad was formed in November last year to patrol and exert influence on waterways in the Indian and Pacific oceans and the East and South China seas.
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In its survey, the institute canvassed university students; officials from government agencies, the military, academia and think tanks; as well as businesspeople and members of the media in countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).