What We’ve Learned About ‘The Quad,’ a Renewed Bid to Check China
- U.S.-backed group of democracies met in Singapore on Thursday
- Effort to present alternative model to Beijing takes shape
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The idea of building an Asia-Pacific coalition between Australia, India, Japan and the U.S. -- a group informally known as “the Quad” -- had failed to catch on for so long, many had written it off.
But a low-key meeting on the sidelines of Association of Southeast Asian Nations summits Thursday in Singapore suggested that shared concern about China’s rise was helping the four liberal democracies overcome their differences. Four brief statements issued by the participants Friday offered some clues about the group’s direction: