customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

US President Joe Biden hosted Australia’s prime minister at his Delaware home on Friday, at the start of a weekend summit with the “Quad” group he has pushed as a counterweight to China.
Biden chose his hometown of Wilmington for a summit of leaders from Australia, India and Japan – the last of his presidency after he dropped out of the 2024 election against Donald Trump and handed the Democratic campaign reins to Kamala Harris.
After a one-on-one meeting at his property with Australia’s Anthony Albanese on Friday night, he will welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at his beloved house on Saturday.
Biden will then host an “intimate” dinner and full four-way summit that day at his former high school in the city.
“This will be President Biden’s first time hosting foreign leaders in Wilmington as president – a reflection of his deep personal relationships with each of the Quad Leaders,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Vice-President Harris will not be attending, the White House said.
The Quad grouping dates back to 2007, but Biden has strongly pushed it as part of an emphasis on international alliances after the isolationist Trump years.
China was expected to feature heavily in their discussions amid tensions with Beijing, particularly a series of recent confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels in the disputed South China Sea.
During their one-on-one on Friday, Biden and Albanese “discussed their respective diplomacy with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and their shared concerns about the PRC’s coercive and destabilising activities,” the White House said in a statement.
The White House faced criticism for giving only limited access to the press throughout the weekend, with reporters questioning whether it was at the request of the notoriously media-shy Modi.
Modi was coaxed to take two questions during a state visit to the White House in 2023, but had not held an open press conference at home in his previous nine years in power.
The White House insisted Biden would not shy away from addressing rights issues with Modi, who has faced accusations of growing authoritarianism.
“There’s not a conversation that he has with foreign leaders where he does not talk about the importance of respecting human and civil rights, and that includes with Prime Minister Modi,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
India is due to host the next Quad summit in 2025.
Biden is famously proud of his home in Wilmington, around 176 kilometres from Washington, and he frequently spends weekends there away from the confines of the White House.
It hit the headlines when classified documents were found in its garage, next to his Corvette sports car, in 2022. Biden was not charged.


Biden opens home to ‘Quad’ leaders for farewell summit

‘A better bet’: Asia backs Kamala Harris over more Trump turmoil in US presidential race

US Secret Service admits multiple failures over Donald Trump assassination attempt

US visit by Vietnam’s To Lam to be showcase of great power balancing – if he meets Biden

Joe Biden

US President Joe Biden is host the leaders of Australia, India and Japan in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. File photo: AFP

Biden to host Quad leaders in hometown farewell

(From left): Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Narendra Modi in 2022. Photo: AFP

Quad leaders, hosted by US President Joe Biden, meet at the White House in 2021. Photo: Bloomberg

US parties find unity in Quad’s potential to counter China in the Indo-Pacific

US President Joe Biden will host the leaders of Japan, India and Australia on Saturday for the final Quad summit of his presidency. Photo: AFP

US Representative Michael McCaul, a Republican from Texas who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has called for the Quad partnership with Japan, India and Australia to go further in pushing back against China. Photo: AFP

Quad plans joint patrols in Indo-Pacific to counter illegal fishing where China’s influence growing

The US and Australia are two of the four Quad members, with Japan and India being the other two. File photo: via AP

An aerial view of a Philippine fishing boat (bottom R) anchored near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea in 2023. Photo: AFP

News

Asia

Diplomacy

China will feature prominently on the agenda as US President Biden hosts the three leaders at his Delaware home


China will feature prominently on the agenda as US President Biden hosts the three leaders at his Delaware home.
