Sino File | US, Japan, India, Australia ... is Quad the first step to an Asian Nato?

It’s more than just changing the name of the ‘Asia-Pacific’ to the ‘Indo-Pacific’ – the ‘Quad’ grouping of like-minded democracies has the potential to dramatically change the region’s security landscape

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(From left) Japan's defence minister Tomomi Inada, US defence secretary James Mattis and Australia's defence minister Marise Payne. Photo: Reuters

Published: 3:31pm, 25 Nov 2017Updated: 4:09pm, 25 Nov 2017

IT is no longer the “Asia-Pacific”, but the “Indo-Pacific”, at least, according to the United States and some of its allies. Such a change may not seem much on first glance, but these four letters are far more than a matter of semantics: they have the potential to create a seismic shift in the geopolitical landscape of the region.

This much was evidenced when the US, Japan, Australia and India announced this month they had agreed to create a coalition that would patrol and exert influence on waterways from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific to the (much disputed) East and South China Seas. The grouping of the four “like-minded” democracies – known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad – was first mooted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007, but the idea was dropped after Beijing protested, saying the defence partnership with India was aimed at stifling China’s growth. It made a sudden comeback when senior officials from the four nations met in Manila on November 11 – on the sidelines of regional summits during US President Donald Trump’s maiden tour to East Asia. Obviously, the group will have a China-centric security agenda. The Quad’s rebirth highlights the growing suspicion and unease diplomats in Washington, Tokyo, Canberra and New Delhi feel about China’s meteoric military and economic rise.

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In a statement after the meeting, the four nations said they were committed to ensuring a “free and open” region, with “respect for international law”, and “the rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific”, a reference to what they see as China’s flouting of territorial, maritime and trade rules – including Beijing’s rejection of an international tribunal’s ruling against it regarding its South China Sea dispute with the Philippines.

Japanese Rear Admiral Hiroshi Yamamura (left), US Rear Admiral William Byrne (right) and HCS Bisht, vice admiral of the Indian Navy, during the inauguration of joint naval exercises. Photo: AFP

The new strategy to confront China head on with a unified front underscored a growing regional competition between Beijing and Washington. The Quad meeting came as the US appeared to be shifting strategic focus. As Trump was visiting East Asia, he too referred to the region as the “Indo-Pacific” rather than the “Asia-Pacific” – a clear shot at Beijing.

The strategy appears to be part of Trump’s “hard-balancing” of his East Asia diplomatic policy. He sees it as a way to keep a US presence in the region after abandoning his predecessor Barack Obama’s ‘pivot to Asia’ and withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.