Beijing: Ahead of Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting Friday, China said Wednesday that it was opposed to the formation of “exclusive cliques” to incite “bloc confrontation” and the four-nation alliance should stop driving wedges between regional countries.
In November 2017, the US, Australia, India and Japan gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the Quad to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence, amidst China’s growing military presence in the strategic region.
China “rejects creating exclusive cliques and inciting bloc confrontation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing here while answering a question on the Foreign Ministers’ meeting of the Quad – the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue comprising the United States, India, Japan and Australia in Melbourne on Friday.
“We hope the US and other countries concerned will grasp the trend of the times, adopt a proper mindset and discard the Cold War mentality,” he said.
“They should contribute more to regional peace, stability and prosperity instead of putting a strain on the relations between regional countries,” he said.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will participate in the fourth Quad foreign ministers’ meeting on February 11 in Melbourne along with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the US.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in New Delhi that it will be an opportunity for the ministers to follow up on their virtual meeting held in February last year and exchange views on regional strategic issues given their shared vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.
The MEA in a statement issued Wednesday said, “the ministers will review ongoing Quad cooperation and build on the positive and constructive agenda announced by the leaders at the two summits in 2021, to address contemporary challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chains, critical technologies, climate change, infrastructure etc.”
Asked about the reported remarks by US Assistant Secretary Daniel J Kritenbrink that Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Melbourne will discuss ways to counter challenges posed by China to democratic values and international order, Zhao attacked the US, questioning its democratic credentials.
“Democracy is a common value of mankind, not a monopoly of a few countries. It’s up to the people of a country to decide whether this country is democratic or not. Despite its ruined democratic brand, the US still forces other countries to accept its democratic standards and cobbles together cliques by drawing the ideological line. This is sheer betrayal to democracy,” he said.
“China presents a boon for the regional order. China pursues peace, development and cooperation and promotes the building of an equitable, open and inclusive security system in the Asia-Pacific Region that is not directed against any third country, rejects creating exclusive cliques and inciting bloc confrontation,” he said.
“Like most countries, China recognises and supports the international system with the UN at its core and the international order based on international law, rather than the so-called “order” unilaterally defined,” Zhao said.
Also “any multilateral mechanism should conform to the overriding trend of peace and development and be conducive to enhancing mutual trust and cooperation between countries,” he said.
China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea.
The Quad leaders at their first-in-person summit in Washington on September 25 hosted by US President Joe Biden had pledged to ensure a “free and open” Indo-Pacific, which is also “inclusive and resilient”, as they noted that the strategically vital region, witnessing China’s growing military manoeuvring, is a bedrock of their shared security and prosperity.
PTI
