September 26, 2021

The leaders of Japan, the U.S., Australia, and India held their first in-person meeting on September 24. The four leaders at the outset of their joint statement emphasized their commitment to a "free and open Indo-Pacific", sending a veiled message to China.

A senior Biden administration official said that the quad is "not a regional security organization". However, looking at the process of the establishment of the quad, it shows that quadrilateral military ties have been steadily strengthened and that the militaristic role Japan plays has also been enhanced.

Japan in 1996 concluded the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) with the United States as well as the Japan-U.S. joint declaration which extends the influence of the bilateral security treaty to "the Asia-Pacific". After that, Japan concluded a joint security declaration and an ACSA, respectively, with Australia and India.

The U.S. and India expanded the scale of their military training exercises named Malabar, and Japan participated in the Malabar exercise for the first time in 2017. The Malabar exercise 2020 was conducted under the "quad" framework. In the U.S.-Australia military training exercises Talisman Saber, Japan's Self-Defense Forces have taken part since 2015, repeating training in amphibious attack operations.

"AUKUS", which consists of the U.S., the U.K., and Australia and is said to be a more militaristic partnership, is part of this framework.

No matter how much the quad nations proclaim their non-military intentions, the quad is regarded as a quasi-military alliance and will increase tensions with China. In order to stop China's hegemonism, the "involvement" of a framework with participation of China is necessary, not "besiegement" of China. Efforts to have China abide by rules should be made.