Quad Foreign Ministers Issue Joint Statement from Tokyo Opposing Unilateral Attempts to Change Status Quo; China Apparently in Mind

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:00 JST, July 29, 2024

Foreign ministers under the Quad security cooperation partnership met in Tokyo on Monday and issued a joint statement opposing unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas by force or coercion, apparently with China in mind.

The partnership is made up of Japan, the United States, Australia and India. The foreign ministerial meeting was attended by Japan’s Yoko Kamikawa, the United States’ Antony Blinken, Australia’s Penny Wong and India’s Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

At the meeting, Kamikawa said, “As the existing international order is facing challenges, the cooperation of the four countries of Japan, Australia, India and the United States — who share values such as freedom and democracy, to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific based on the rule of law — is becoming increasingly important.”

The ministers also discussed North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

In the joint statement, the ministers affirmed cooperation on maritime security and measures related to critical and emerging technologies and cybersecurity, among other matters.

The Quad foreign ministers previously met in September last year in New York.