Pompeo moves to fortify Indo-Pacific 'Quad' coalition that China fears as ‘mini-NATO’
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged key allies to take “more concrete steps” to counter threats from the Chinese Communist Party, in a rare gathering of the most powerful Indo-Pacific democracies.
“It is more critical now than ever that we collaborate to protect our people and partners from the CCP’s exploitation, corruption, and coercion,” Pompeo told envoys from Australia, India, and Japan during a meeting in Tokyo. “I’m looking forward to our meetings and to more concrete steps with the Quad going forward.”
That expectation likely will stoke China’s suspicions that the four-nation bloc is forming a “mini-NATO” security bloc, despite American statements downplaying that idea. Not every member of the forum offered such an explicit rebuke of China, but the assembled diplomats emphasized the need for long-term cooperation.
“Our objective remains advancing the security and the economic interests of all countries having legitimate and vital interests in the region,” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said at the gathering. “It is a matter of satisfaction that the Indo-Pacific concept has gained increasingly wider acceptance.”
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