Quad countries share Ukraine concerns at talks
STORY: U.S. President Joe Biden met with three leaders from the Asia Pacific in Tokyo on Tuesday (May 24) for talks with an eye toward China and Russia.
The so-called ‘Quad’, which includes the head of Australia, India and Japan met a day after Biden broke with convention and volunteered U.S. military support for Taiwan, the self-governing island claimed by Beijing.
Biden joined the group to pledge for what they called a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
"We are an Indo-Pacific power. I was once asked by, well I won't go into, I was once asked by a leader of China why I kept talking about being an Indo-Pacific power. I said, 'because we are'. We share the Pacific, one entire side of our country... As long as Russia continues this war, we're going to continue to be partners and lead a global response.”
Japanese leader Fumio Kishida said the group was not aimed at any one particular country.
He also said all four leaders voiced concerns over Ukraine and agreed on the importance of the rule of law, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“Russia's invasion in Ukraine is a threat to the principles of the United Nations charter. We cannot let this happen in the Indo-Pacific region.”
Russia calls its actions a special military operation in Ukraine to demilitarize its neighbor and root out dangerous nationalists - claims dismissed by Western countries as a false pretext for a land grab.
And while Taiwan was not officially on the Quad agenda, Biden’s Monday comment loomed over the meeting.
REPORTER :"Mr. President, would you send troops to Taiwan if China invaded?"
BIDEN: "The policy is not changed at all I stated that when I made my statement yesterday."
China considers Taiwan a part of its territory and says it is the most sensitive and important issue in its relationship with the U.S.
Washington is required by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself but it's long followed a policy of "strategic ambiguity" on whether it would intervene militarily in a Chinese attack.
Biden's remark was the latest in a series of apparently off-the-cuff comments that suggest his personal inclination is to defend it.
