Beijing should remain alert to the continued solidarity between the US and its regional partners in countering China, despite their trade tensions with Washington, Chinese observers have warned.
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They cited this week’s meeting of Indo-Pacific Quad partners as the latest example of such unified signalling.
The top diplomats of the United States, Japan, Australia and India, meeting in Washington on Tuesday, agreed to deepen cooperation on Indo-Pacific maritime security and introduce a critical minerals initiative to diversify supply chains.
“We remain seriously concerned about the situation in the East China Sea and South China Sea,” read a joint statement following the talks between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his three counterparts – Takeshi Iwaya of Japan, Penny Wong of Australia and India’s Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
The apparent reference was to regional tensions and disputes with China involving territorial claims and freedom of navigation in these maritime areas.
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“We are deeply concerned about the abrupt constriction and future reliability of key supply chains, specifically for critical minerals,” the statement added, again apparently referring to China leveraging its rare earths dominance, though it was not mentioned by name.