Quad leaders meet in Biden’s hometown amid growing China competition

The leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the United States are meeting in US President Joe Biden’s hometown as the countries push to strengthen their Quad alliance amid growing competition with China.

Biden welcomed his counterparts to Wilmington, Delaware, on Saturday for the group’s annual summit, where he previewed steps to deepen the alliance, including the launch of a new cooperation framework between the four countries’ coastguards.

“While challenges will come, the world will change … the Quad is here to stay,” Biden said.

The Quad, formally known as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, was initially launched in 2007 but it quickly dissolved amid protests from China.

The alliance was revived in 2017, and when Biden took office in 2021, he pushed to elevate it as the US sought to curb China’s influence in the Asia Pacific.

The group held its first leaders’ summit virtually in 2021, and a year later, Biden hosted the Australian, Indian and Japanese heads of state at the White House.

Last year, the Quad met in Hiroshima, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s hometown.

On Saturday, the leaders did not mention China in their opening remarks. But they presented themselves as the leaders of democracies and defenders of international norms in the Asia Pacific.

“All of us support a rules-based international order, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity and peaceful resolution of all disputes,” said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.