China will be ‘high’ on Quad Summit agenda: White House Spokesperson

From left, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, U.S. President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are greeted by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, during their arrival to the Quad leaders summit in 2022. File.
| Photo Credit: AP

China will be “high on the agenda” at the summit-level meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), comprising the U.S., India, Australia and Japan, according to White House spokesperson John Kirby.

U.S. President Joe Biden will host Quad leaders in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, on September 21. Mr Biden will meet individually with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan . They will also meet together to discuss “expanding cooperation across a range of critically important issues” according to the White House.

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“In fact, it would be irresponsible if they didn’t talk about the challenges that still exist in the region, caused by aggressive PRC military action, for instance, unfair trade practices, tensions over the Taiwan Strait. I have no doubt that all those issues will come up,” he said.

Also on the agenda are health security, natural disaster response, maritime security, infrastructure, critical and emerging technologies, climate, clean energy and cyber security, according to White House spokesperson John Kirby.

Asked by a journalist at Wednesday’s White House briefing if Mr Biden would discuss human rights with Mr Modi, Mr Kirby said he did not want to get ahead of the conversations but that if appropriate Mr Biden would do so.

“There’s not a conversation that he has with foreign leaders where he doesn’t talk about the importance of respecting human and civil rights, and that includes with Prime Minister Modi, “ Mr Kirby said, adding that Mr Biden had raised the issue previously with Mr Modi.

“And I’m sure that as appropriate, he’ll be [ doing so ] going forward,” he said.

Also expected are announcements that demonstrate that the Quad “thrives over the long term” , Mr Kirby said on Thursday. The group has seen commitments from Democratic and Republican Presidents. It was revived in 2017, during the Donald Trump presidency, while Mr Biden hosted the first leader-level meeting of the Quad in September 2021. The summit will be the last such meeting for two of the four leaders, with Mr Biden and Mr Kishida announcing that they will not seek reelection.