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Marco Rubio, on first day, with Quad partners warns China over its actions at sea
The Quad ministerial meeting of Australia, India, Japan, and the US focused on countering China's influence and maintaining a free Indo-Pacific.
The first Quad ministerial meeting of Australia, India, Japan and the US since President Donald Trump took office was held on Tuesday. The joint statement said officials from the four nations will meet on a regular basis in the coming months to prepare for the next leaders' summit hosted by India.
In the meeting, hosted by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on his first day in the job, the foreign ministers of the four countries said they opposed any unilateral action that seeks to change the status quo by force or coercion, an apparent reference to the threat that China will act on its claim to sovereignty over democratically governed Taiwan.
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The statement added that they were committed to a free and open Indo-Pacific.
The four countries shared concerns about China's growing power, and analysts said the meeting was designed to signal that countering Beijing is a top priority for Donald Trump, who began his second term in office on Monday, news agency Reuters reported.
Rubio earlier said he said would stress the importance of working with allies “on the things that are important to America and Americans” during the meeting.
He posed with India's external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Australia's Penny Wong and Japan's Takeshi Iwaya in front of the flags of their countries before the meeting at the State Department, but did not respond to questions from reporters.
"Significant that the Quad (foreign ministers' meeting) took place within hours of the inauguration of the Trump Administration," S Jaishankar said on X after the meeting.
"This underlines the priority it has in the foreign policy of its member states," he added.
The four nations restated their “shared commitment to strengthening a Free and Open Indo-Pacific where the rule of law, democratic values, sovereignty, and territorial integrity are upheld and defended,” the joint statement said.
Rubio also met separately with the three foreign ministers on Tuesday.
Donald Trump officials were working on scheduling another gathering of the foreign ministers at the White House as well, a person involved in planning meetings told Reuters.
The Quad grouping met many times during the administration of former President Joe Biden, with a focus on Beijing's military and economic activities in the Indo-Pacific, particularly in the South China Sea where US allies have pushed back against Beijing's territorial claims.
The grouping has also pledged to advance cooperation in cybersecurity to protect supply chains and critical infrastructure, including undersea cables.
A key aim for Australia was to secure assurances from Washington about the massive AUKUS defence project, designed to allow Australia to acquire nuclear-powered attack submarines and other advanced weapons such as hypersonic missiles, which Trump has not commented on publicly.
Australia's foreign minister Wong told a news conference in Washington she had a "very positive discussion" with Rubio on AUKUS.
China has denounced the Quad as a Cold War construct and says the AUKUS alliance would intensify a regional arms race.
Wong, who met her Indian and Japanese counterparts in Washington over the weekend, said she also discussed with Rubio critical minerals - an industry where the US and China are battling for supply chain control.
"There's a great deal of optimism and confidence about the opportunities ahead, and I am really privileged to have had this level of engagement so early in the new administration," she said.
(With inputs from Reuters)
