When senior officials from the United States, India, Japan and Australia recently held a rare four-way dialogue in Singapore, the meeting did not produce a single joint statement. Instead, it resulted in four – one for each country. The outcome reflected the ambiguities surrounding the loose grouping that has been both hailed and scorned as a potential counterweight to China’s growing clout in the Asia-Pacific.
When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe initiated the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the “Quad”, in 2007, he envisaged a “democratic security diamond” capable of checking Beijing’s rising influence in the region. The group held just one round of dialogue and joint military drills that year before entering a decade-long hiatus when Australia withdrew to forge closer relations with Beijing.
When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe initiated the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the “Quad”, in 2007, he envisaged a “democratic security diamond” capable of checking Beijing’s rising influence in the region. The group held just one round of dialogue and joint military drills that year before entering a decade-long hiatus when Australia withdrew to forge closer relations with Beijing.
