Although Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stressed the group was not aimed at any one country, it is clear that the Quad’s main concern is China’s growing assertiveness throughout the Indo-Pacific region, not only because of its territorial claims and naval incursions in the East and South China Sea, but also its escalation of military drills around the waters of Taiwan.
While the Quad meeting was taking place, Xi Jinping decided to make a statement of his own by joining his friend Vladimir Putin in ordering Chinese and Russian strategic bombers to fly over the Sea of Japan.
Xi Jinping›s and Putin’s airborne antics were not taken as an immediate threat, but it accomplished the real underlying purpose–to display solidarity between the two leaders, both of whom are intent on altering the post-WWII global order.
At the same time, Xi Jinping wants to counter American alliances in a new and ambitious diplomatic drive he unveiled during this past April›s Boao Forum in China, which is considered the “Asian Davos”.
Xi’s big idea, which he calls the Global Security Initiative, or GSI, was more recently in focus when he made a video address to the big emerging economies grouping formally known as Brics. During his address, he urged other Brics members Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa to join GSI in order to «strengthen political mutual trust and security cooperation… accommodate each other›s core interests and major concerns, respect each other›s sovereignty, security and development interests, oppose hegemonism and power politics, reject cold war mentality and bloc confrontation and work together to build a global community of security for all.”
Xi’s grandiloquent description of his initiative was meant to impress, but the hypocrisy was not lost on those watching on the sidelines. For all of us in ASEAN with stakes in the South China Sea, it struck me and many others as grossly hypocritical when we heard Xi upholding the principles ot sovereignty and territorial integrity. I am sure it struck the Indian political elite as odd, as well, given the People’s Liberation Army incessant forays along the China-India border, a territorial dispute that has been simmering for decades and for which Beijing has no legal basis in international law to make any legitimate claims.
Then there is the issue of the GSI as a mechanism for building political trust. Such a vision can be met only if the sponsoring party is already trusted. Yet who trusts Xi Jinping›s China? Many political observers, myself included, cast a suspicious eye when they see how the One Belt One Road initiative, or OBOR, which was touted as an infrastructure development fund, has in fact been used by Beijing to gain control over recipient countries’ strategic assets and ensnare them into debt traps.
One only need look at the ongoing economic and political crises in Sri Lanka and more recently in Pakistan to understand the risks. Rather than creating any sort of trust that China can be a reliable partner in economic development, I would argue that the evident flaws and one-sided nature of the OBOR initiative has bred mistrust and caution. Political leaders must now be thinking twice before signing up for new projects with Xi›s OBOR less they end up like Sri Lanka›s and Pakistan›s heads of state.