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Could a US-led Quad add up to an Asian Nato against China?
- Washington has mooted the idea of making a formal alliance between the four players and expanding the grouping to other countries in Southeast Asia
- Asean’s involvement would be crucial to such an idea but observers say there is little incentive for the bloc to support it
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For the moment, the “Quad” is still four.
The United States, Australia, India and Japan make up the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, an informal alliance first mooted more than decade ago but given new life in recent years as China has become more assertive in the South China Sea and beyond.
The Quad members came together in 2017 with an agreement to work towards a “free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region”.
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The US is now not only pushing for a formal alliance but also seeking to expand it to bring in more countries in the region, with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying in October that together they could create a security net to rise to the challenge of China.
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South China Sea: Don’t let China ‘walk over us’, says Pompeo during Asean meeting
South China Sea: Don’t let China ‘walk over us’, says Pompeo during Asean meeting
The idea has been framed as a kind of “Asian Nato”, modelled on the transatlantic alliance that emerged in the aftermath of the second world war to counter the Soviet bloc.
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For any such alliance to work, the support of the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) would be essential because they are in the best strategic position to be effective.
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