Quad leaders agree to prevent Ukraine-like situation in Indo-Pacific

Leaders of the Quad grouping – the US, India, Australia, and Japan – on Thursday agreed to prevent a Ukraine-like situation from developing in the Indo-Pacific, amid increased concerns over Chinese activity in the region.

Taiwan’s status was a particular point of concern in the virtual meeting attended by President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

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With the West distracted with the situation in Ukraine, there are concerns that China might make a move for Taiwan, which Beijing claims is an “inalienable” part of China despite Taiwanese opposition. Taiwan also recently raised its alert level due to increased Chinese activity in the region, sparking fears that something akin to Ukraine was about to unfold.

“We’ve agreed that unilateral changes to the status quo with force like this [a situation like Ukraine] should not be allowed in the Indo-Pacific region,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said after the meeting.

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“We’ve also agreed this development makes it even more important to work toward realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Kishida added.

With Chinese influence growing in the Indo-Pacific, and indeed around the world, the US views the cooperation between the Quad countries as crucial to combating China’s influence.

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However, the Ukraine invasion has made the relationship slightly complicated: while the US, Japan, and Australia all condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Moscow to starve it of the resources required to pose a security threat in Europe, India, which has historically had strong ties with Russia, has yet to condemn the attack.

India also faces the possibility of US sanctions due its purchase of S-400 missile systems from Russia, but analysts say that US sanctions on India, if imposed, could backfire and put the cooperation between the Quad countries at risk.