What’s the ‘Quad’ Alliance and Why Doesn’t China Like It?

US President Joe Biden is scheduled to host a summit Sept. 21 of the leaders of “the Quad.” The informal grouping brings together the US, Japan, India and Australia in an alliance of democracies with shared economic and security interests that span the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The point officially is to maintain a “free and open Indo-Pacific,” but the unstated priority is countering China’s growing power. Unsurprisingly, that rankles the leadership in Beijing. The Quad has its critics, who question the group’s sometimes-ambiguous goals and ask how effective it can be given that some members are wary of provoking China. Still, it’s set to become more relevant as US-China tensions persist.

The group has gathered some momentum under Biden’s administration. Quad leaders have held five virtual or in-person summits during his presidency, the most recent one on the sidelines of the Group of Seven meeting in Hiroshima, Japan in May 2023. It wasn’t always so active. It lay dormant for years before being revived in 2017 by the US under then-President Donald Trump, whose government was intent on confronting China. Yet Trump’s erratic diplomacy left some allies hesitant to line up behind the US on China. When Biden replaced Trump, he pledged to work more closely with allies while continuing a tough stance on China.