Australia to host Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting this month

SYDNEY, January 31

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to Australia in February to meet counterparts from Japan, India and Australia to discuss Indo-Pacific coordination, the Australian Government said on Monday.

The two-day meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) Foreign Ministers comes amid the Biden administration’s concerns about China, even as tensions with Russia over Ukraine rachet up in Europe.

China has previously denounced the Quad as a Cold War construct and a clique “targeting other countries”.

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne did not specify the date for the meeting, but said in a statement she looked forward to welcoming the Quad Foreign Ministers to Australia in coming weeks.

“We are a vital network of liberal democracies cooperating to give our region strategic choices, with a focus on practical steps to build the resilience and sovereignty of all states,” Payne said.

The government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison is deepening Australia’s partnerships in the region amid “threats to liberal international order”, she said. — Reuters