The Malabar joint exercises with US, Indian and Japanese vessels in 2018. Image: Handout/Agencies
Richard Javad Heydarian, Asia Times: Quad alliance forms ‘arc of democracy’ around China
US, Japan, India and Australia are coming together in a strategic pact aimed at countering and containing authoritarian China
MANILA – China’s strategic opportunism in the South China Sea has not only alienated its smaller neighbors but is also turbocharging the formation of a so-called “Quad” anti-China alliance of like-minded Indo-Pacific powers.
Last week, the US conducted simultaneous naval drills in the Pacific and Indian Oceans with democratic allies and partners Australia, Japan and India. The four countries comprise the on-off “Quadrilateral” defense arrangement, a concept that envisions establishing an “Asian Arc of Democracy” around authoritarian China.
Last week’s drills followed directly on a major US policy statement on the South China Sea, where US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared China’s wide-reaching claims in the disputed maritime area “illegal” while implicitly backing those of Southeast Asian claimants.
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WNU Editor: I expect more countries will be joining this alliance.
