The Wuhan Plague has at least a couple of silver linings. Firstly, it’s given the rude shock that much of the world needed to wake up to the fact that at the end of the day, they’ve been dealing with a communist dictatorship. Consequently, many nations are seeking to decouple their economies from over-dependence on China. Secondly, China’s actions are speeding up the process already begun in the face of Beijing’s aggressive expansion in the South China Sea: its neighbours are increasingly banding together and forging deeper alliances against the Chinese threat.
Some of the new alliances also seem to be a tacit acknowledgement that former alliance partners may not be as reliable as once thought.
Australia, the United States, Japan and India will deepen their cooperation on countering cyber attacks and disinformation, after a high-level meeting of foreign ministers in Tokyo where China’s growing assertiveness dominated the agenda.
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne also agreed with her counterparts to better work together on protecting critical technology and minerals, and uphold maritime security in the region, as an alternative to relying on China.
The Five Eyes alliance has, since 1946, bound the US, Australia, Canada, Britain and New Zealand in a mutual intelligence-sharing network. But the longstanding alliance has been threatened by the global intrusion of Chinese telco, Huawei. Citing security issues, Australia and the US have banned Huawei from participating in building their 5G networks. Britain allowed Huawei to participate, but has since wavered. Canada is still on the bench, and New Zealand has flip-flopped.
The burgeoning “Quad” alliance seems to be part of a strategy of foiling Chinese cyberwarfare, outside the Five Eyes. All four nations have imposed restrictions on Huawei.
[Mike] Pompeo said the “Quad” alliance between the four countries, which has angered Beijing, was a testament to the “enduring power of democracy to bring free peoples together”.
“Our partnership isn’t multilateralism for the sake of it,” he said.
“When we met now last year, the landscape was very different, we couldn’t have imagined the pandemic that came from Wuhan.”
“That crisis was made definitely worse by the Chinese Communist Party’s cover up. The regime’s authoritarian nature led its leaders to lock up and silence the very brave Chinese citizens who were raising the alarm.”
“As partners in this Quad, it is more critical now than ever that we collaborate to protect our people and partners form the CCP’s exploitation, corruption and coercion.”
Senator Payne said[…]the four countries discussed ways to help each other develop domestic critical minerals processing industries and need to develop local industries that can supply critical technologies.
Besides maritime and cyber-security, the alliance is set to deepen cooperation in critical technology and strengthen the resilience of regional supply chains.
The “Quad” is setting its ambitions on bringing in more nations, to ring-fence Chinese expansionism. Last year, PM Scott Morrison became the first Australian leader in 15 years to visit Vietnam – which has had its own issues with China, including a long-running standoff in the South China Sea.
Senator Payne said the ministers also agreed to strengthen cooperation with other countries “including in the Mekong sub-region” – in a sign that the four nations are looking to deepen their alliance with China’s neighbour Vietnam.
The ministers also discussed measures to counter disinformation campaigns by authoritarian states, amid concern about the way in which China has used social media to undermine democracies across the region during the global pandemic.
As I’ve written before, China may be becoming a global threat, but it will never be a superpower. Economic and military power alone does not a superpower make. A superpower exerts influence over its immediate sphere. Rather than fall under its spell, China’s neighbours are realising that they need to join together in common cause against a global bully.
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