President Joe Biden insisted the so-called “Quad” group would survive global strains and a US election that could bring Donald Trump back to power, as he hosted the leaders of Japan, India and Australia for a farewell summit in his hometown on Saturday.
“While challenges will come, the world will change because the Quad is here to stay,” Biden said as he opened the four-way meeting at his former high school in Wilmington, Delaware.
In a personal touch, Biden had earlier opened up his home in the city for private talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
“I am really pleased that you were able to be in my home and see where I grew up,” he said.
Biden has made a priority of boosting international alliances, and is particularly invested in the Quad, which he sees as a counterweight to an increasingly assertive China in the crucial Asia-Pacific region.
But many US allies are nervously awaiting the outcome of the November 5 election between Vice President Kamala Harris — who became the Democratic candidate after Biden dropped out of the White House race in July — and Republican former president Trump.
– ‘Not against anybody’ –
There are growing questions about what would happen if the isolationist Trump — who has threatened to pull the United States out of groups like NATO while praising the leaders of Russia and North Korea — returns to the Oval Office.
Asked by reporters if the Quad would survive beyond the November 5 election, Biden replied: “Way beyond November. Way beyond November.”
India’s Modi made a similar pledge — in a commitment that will be welcomed by Washington, Canberra and Tokyo as they court the historically non-aligned New Delhi.
“Our message is, the Quad is here to stay,” Modi said, echoing Biden’s words as the summit kicked off in a colonnaded hall at Archmere Academy.
In an apparent nod to China, Modi added that the Quad was “not against anybody” but backed a “rules based international order.”
The Quad grouping dates back to 2007 but Biden has pushed it especially hard as tensions mount with China over Taiwan and between Beijing and other nations over maritime claims in the South China Sea.
The White House said in readouts of Biden’s meetings with Kishida and Albanese that they “shared concerns about the PRC’s (People’s Republic of China’s) coercive and destabilizing activities.”
They also called for “maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait” — referring to tensions over Taiwan, the self-governing democracy that China claims as its territory, to be reunited by force if necessary.
– Home sweet home –
US officials said there will be “deliverables” from the meeting, including an expansion of maritime security cooperation and the first joint coast guard exercises between the four nations, featuring a meeting on a US vessel.
But as Biden enters the twilight of his one-term presidency, the summit was also a very personal piece of diplomacy in his beloved hometown.
Biden is famously proud of his home in Wilmington, frequently refers to his upbringing there in his speeches, and often spends weekends there away from the confines of the White House.
“I’m glad you got to see it,” he told his fellow leaders.
The media were given no access to the private meetings at Biden’s home.
Biden posted pictures on social media of him with Albanese and then with Kishida in a wood-paneled drawing room in his house, and showing them the view of a lake from a veranda.
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