Quad diplomats finalise first leaders’ summit in two years before Trump-Xi meeting

Top diplomats from the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the Quad, met in Atlanta on Saturday to finalise preparations for next month’s summit in the Philippines, just weeks before US President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Shenzhen.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met his counterparts from India, Japan and Australia on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) foreign ministers’ meeting, where they reaffirmed their commitment to a “free and open Indo-Pacific”.

Without naming China, the joint statement, released by Japan’s ministry of foreign affairs, expressed grave concerns over “overcapacity” and vowed to build “reliable and open global supply chains and trusted and resilient infrastructure”.

“They [Quad foreign ministers] expressed grave concerns regarding economic coercion, including through arbitrary export restrictions, as well as non-market policies and practices that result in overcapacity to disrupt global supply chains in critical industries,” the statement added.

After the meeting, Rubio said all sides discussed the “real progress” made in turning their “shared priorities into real benefits for the Indo-Pacific”.

“As our nations continue building reliable and open supply chains, supporting next-generation technologies, increasing maritime cooperation, and securing critical minerals, the United States, Australia, India, and Japan are delivering results for our people and the nations in the region,” he wrote on social media.

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The Quad, an informal grouping of four democracies, is widely viewed as a mechanism to counter China’s growing influence in the Asia-Pacific.

Leaders of the Quad countries are scheduled to meet in Manila for their first summit in more than two years, marking a departure from previous leader-level gatherings held exclusively in member countries.

However, the joint statement on Saturday did not specify a date for the summit, saying only that the members “look forward to the convening of the Quad Leaders’ Summit”.

Rubio confirmed the leader-level summit during his visit to India earlier this month.

“It’s been agreement now that we’re going to do it; we’re going to do it in Manila, at the Asean conference,” Rubio said in an interview with Indian news channel CNN-News18.

The Philippines holds the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) this year and will host the bloc’s leaders’ summit and other multilateral meetings from November 16 to 18.

After attending the Quad summit and other engagements in the Philippines, Trump is expected to travel to Shenzhen for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meetings, where he will hold his third bilateral meeting of the year with the Chinese president.

“It always helps prior to engagements with the [People’s Republic of China] for the US to coordinate and consult with key allies and partners,” said Edgard Kagan, who served as US ambassador to Malaysia from December 2023 to February this year.

Kagan added that the decision to hold a Quad leaders’ meeting just before the Trump-Xi talks was “significant”, but suggested it was more about strengthening Washington’s position than sending a signal to Beijing.

“My view is this is less about deliberately signalling to China than about going back to some of the things that we’ve traditionally done to strengthen our hand prior to engagements with China,” he said.

The previous Quad leaders’ summit took place in September 2024 in Wilmington, Delaware, the hometown of former US president Joe Biden.

India was scheduled to host the Quad summit last year, but it faced repeated delays amid worsening ties between New Delhi and Washington over US tariffs, oil sanctions and visa restrictions. Australia holds the grouping’s rotating chair this year.

However, the bloc continued to convene frequently at the foreign ministers’ level, with recent meetings held in May and July.

After the July meeting, all sides reiterated their commitment to “strengthening a free and open Indo-Pacific” and expressed “unwavering support for Asean unity and centrality”.

The Quad launched several initiatives to strengthen maritime and economic security at its May meeting, including the US$20 billion Quad Critical Minerals Initiative Framework.

The Quad summit comes amid shifting Trump administration priorities in the Asia-Pacific, where regional partners have questioned the durability of Washington’s security commitments and its strategy on China.

In June, the US renamed the Indo-Pacific Command the Pacific Command, reversing a designation made in 2018.

Two months later, Trump ordered the annual US-South Korean military drills to be cut from 11 days to five.

Washington has also reassigned the Japan-based USS George Washington to the war against Iran, leaving the Indo-Pacific without a permanently stationed US aircraft carrier.

The administration has called on allies and partners across the region to cover a larger share of their defence costs.

Acknowledging a “perception” of wavering US commitments, Kagan pointed to Trump’s planned trip to Manila this year, his attendance at last year’s Asean summit in Malaysia and his visits to Japan and South Korea as proof of continued engagement.

“There is a sense that it helps the US to reinforce our commitment to the region, and I commend the administration for how they are handling this right now.”