Wong says ‘rules are being bent, twisted and broken’ but avoids naming China as key actor

The focus on cybersecurity comes after Australia secured the support of Japan and South Korea, along with five other countries, last month for a statement accusing China’s Ministry of State Security of being behind a hacking group known as APT40.

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Wong used her opening remarks to say “Australia’s belief in the strategic necessity of the Quad has only strengthened” – a sentiment echoed by the United States’ Antony Blinken, Japan’s Yoko Kamikawa, and India’s Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

“Long-standing rules are being bent and twisted or broken. Countries face coercive trade measures, unsustainable lending, political interference and disinformation … For Australia, this Quad partnership is central to how we respond to the circumstances we face,” Wong said in comments following the meeting.

With the US poised to elect a new president in Kamala Harris or Donald Trump in November, Blinken said he had “great confidence” in the future of the Quad.

Justin Bassi, executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the Quad ministers had sidestepped “any truly frank portrayal of the unacceptable behaviour taking place, much less naming China as the key country of concern”.

“While again consistent with previous remarks, as Beijing’s actions increase in malign aggression so too must the transparency of responses to it,” Bassi said.

Sam Roggeveen, director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program, said the Quad was bound to underperform as a counter to China because of the divergent interests of the members, namely India, which would not allow it to be an explicitly anti-China body.

“The Quad members are separated by Asia’s vast geography – a vital interest for one is a secondary concern to the others. For instance, it is extremely difficult to imagine a world in which India came to the aid of Japan if Tokyo was in a security crisis with Beijing,” he said.

But he added that it was rare for international institutions or dialogues to be completely abandoned, even as their utility waned.

The Quad leaders summit scheduled to be held in Sydney last year was cancelled at the last minute when US President Joe Biden withdrew because of the US debt ceiling crisis, and presidential elections in the US and India this year have hampered attempts to reconvene the meeting.

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