US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discusses China-related issues with fellow ‘Quad’ diplomats
- South China Sea tensions are a topic as foreign ministers from Australia, India and Japan hold a virtual meeting with their US counterpart
- The Biden administration has emphasised that its dealings with China should be in close coordination with US allies
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a virtual meeting on Thursday with his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan, a group of Pacific allies known as “the Quad” that Washington sees as a vital countering force against an increasingly assertive Beijing.
Blinken and the other diplomats – Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar – discussed a range of global issues, a call readout from the Japanese foreign ministry said, including tensions in the South China Sea.
“Foreign Minister Motegi expressed serious concern with regard to the China’s Coast Guard Law,” the readout said, referring to a new Chinese law that lets its coastguard ships fire on foreign vessels and demolish structures built in disputed waters.
“The four ministers concurred to strongly oppose unilateral and forceful attempts to change the status quo in the context of the East and South China Sea,” it said.
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US-China confrontation would be ‘disaster’, Xi says in first phone call with Biden
The call comes as US-China tensions remain high in the early weeks of the new Biden administration. President Joe Biden and his team of advisers have made clear that they see China as a challenge to US interests.