The Quad, a “NATO” in Asia-Pacific?
The prospect of an armed intervention in Taiwan leads to the strengthening of ties between allies of the United States, led by Japan, a neighboring regional power. April 16, following a meeting between heads of state, Tokyo and Washington have for the first time in seventy-two years openly addressed the question of Taiwan, by declaring their attachment “To peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait”.
1is June, Matt Pottinger, former national defense adviser to Donald Trump, concluded that “If China used force to reunite with Taiwan, Japan would use military means to defend the island”, during a public debate reported on South China Morning Post.
Japan – and its Prime Minister at the time, Shinzo Abe, worried about the rise of China in the region – had as early as 2006 put forward the idea of the Quad, a quadripartite forum comprising, in addition to the United States and Japan , Australia and India. But its action has been weak since its formation in 2007.
Since then, initiatives to relaunch it have followed one another. In November 2020, then in March 2021, quadripartite maritime maneuvers took place. On March 12, a meeting between leaders was “The first multilateral security discussion for President Biden”, underlines former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who welcomes in the webzine Asia Nikkei, that his country, in open conflict with China on a number of subjects, thus avoids the isolation that Beijing wishes it.
Europe is not absent. The Quad participated in the French maneuvers La Pérouse in the Bay of Bengal in April. 1is June, the British ship HMS Queen Elizabeth left for Asia, with American planes on board, accompanied by a Dutch ship. A German ship is announced in the year. All this prejudges a possible unified response in the event of an attack on Taiwan, but nothing is less certain, estimate the Financial Times.
In the meantime, the intensification of the US and allied naval deployment prompts China to lament that the Quad is emerging as a “Pacific NATO”, underline the South China Morning Post.
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