The Xi Jinping regime and its wolf warriors have been attacking QUAD since its revival in 2017. From Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s description of QUAD as a bubble in the Pacific or Indian Oceans, to the assertive New NATO of the past, Beijing on Wednesday described it as a product of Cold War mentality and a confrontational bloc against China. The hot addition is that China is seeking peace, development and cooperation, not against any third country. QUAD foreign ministers will meet tomorrow in Melbourne.

China’s statement on the eve of the Quartet meeting was not only intended to put the participating countries on the defensive, but also to make Indonesia, the Philippines and other ASEAN countries bear the brunt of the CCP’s expansionism in the South China Sea. The message to ASEAN is to not get infected by QUAD and stay within the parameters of the chopstick culture defined by Beijing.

In fact, QUAD focuses on a constructive agenda for collaboration with Indo-Pacific partners on health and vaccine support, disaster relief, climate change, emerging and critical technologies, infrastructure development, and a free and open Indo-Pacific. This is in stark contrast to China’s rapid military expansion and expansion both within and outside the region, pulling the world into another Cold War era.

QUAD is moving beyond the post-Cold War alliance. It is China that wants to maintain the old order and keep India in a South Asian box by putting its proxy Pakistan in a permanent confrontation with New Delhi. In addition to helping Islamabad build its nuclear capabilities and delivery platforms, China has bolstered Pakistan’s military by supplying self-propelled howitzers to the Army, JF-17 fighter jets to the Air Force, and stealth frigates and submarines to the Navy. It used Pakistan and Burma to provide access to the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, and pinned India. Seeing politics in a globally well-organized organization like QUAD is an important part of Cold War thinking, as it runs counter to globalization and rebalancing of power. It is China that still wants the victor of World War II to stand high and does not want to cede space to middle powers like India, Japan, Australia and Brazil. It is for this reason that reform of the UN Security Council has stalled over the past two decades.

By describing the Quartet as a confrontational bloc, China demonstrates its middle-kingdom mentality, with a rapidly rising Beijing at the global center and the rest just vassals. Despite challenging Tokyo over the Senkaku Islands dispute, it does not want Japan to abandon its pacifist theories, just as it wants Australia to continue to be a docile supplier of beef, pork, cheese and wine.

Complete News Source : Hindustan Times