This content was first published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio kicked off his new position on Tuesday by hosting the international politics ministries of Australia, Japan, and India shortly after being sworn in by Vice President J. D. Vance as the country’s new bottom minister.
Along with the United States, the three countries form , the” Rear” gathering, which was revived under the first Trump administration and was a pillar of the Biden administration’s attempts to counter China.
Rubio, a former senator from Florida, was confirmed by his previous Senate colleagues on Monday night following Donald Trump’s inauguration as leader earlier in the day, with Vance confirming the interview on Tuesday night.
He subsequently headed to the State Department in Washington’s Foggy Bottom to greet team members, promising to make adjustments to the office. But he said the changes did not show “destructive” or “punitive” to those who worked for the Biden management.
” In our state, the voters decide the course of our country – both domestically and abroad– and they have elected Donald J. Trump as our leader”, Rubio said, adding that the new leader had laid out” a pretty clear vision” on foreign policy during his campaign.
” That quest”, he said, “is to ensure that our foreign policy is centered on one item, and that is the development of our national interest”.
Repeating a series he used several times during his , confirmation hearing, America’s new best minister defined like a foreign policy as “anything that makes us stronger or safer or more prosperous”.
The more items change…
The priority given to the” Quad,” a group that was fully convened in 2007 but which generally lay dormant until being revived under Trump a century later, does not appear to be heading in the wrong direction.
Led by former U. S. President , Joe Biden’s” Asia czar”, Kurt Campbell, the casual security gathering turned into one of the decorations of the Biden administration’s strategic approach to China’s military fall.
Just an hour after greeting his new team, Rubio signaled that the higher priority on Quad will remain under the Trump administration, which will include hosting Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya.
The four officials posed for photos in front of the State Department’s display of their countries ‘ flags after a half-hour meeting before dispersing the group for later meetings.
It was a new look for the grouping, with Rubio not the only fresh face.
Iwaya, who previously served as Japan’s defense minister, only became aware of his new position in early October as a result of the resignation of Fumio Kishida as prime minister.
Top priority
Leaders of the Quad countries have recently taken advantage of the group’s importance going forward, even as their governments change, despite the officials ‘ silence at the photo shoot.
China has called the Quad a remnant of what it refers to as a” Cold War” mindset and asserts that it has no plans for territorial expansion or aggression in the vast Indo-Pacific region.
However, concerns persist in Washington, Tokyo, and New Delhi regarding China’s plans to occupy parts of the South China Sea, which it claims to be its territory, as well as the democratic island of Taiwan, which Beijing views as a rogue province.
The three other Quad foreign ministers also took part in Trump’s inauguration on Monday, underscoring how significant the grouping is to Washington’s efforts to combat China’s military expansion.
Wong claimed to reporters in Washington on Sunday that the Quad grouping was at the forefront of ties and that Australia’s relationship with the US was its “most important strategic relationship.”
Wong referred to the invitations that Trump and Rubio have sent to the foreign ministers this week as a” show of the collective commitment of all countries to the Quad, an iron-clad commitment in this time when close cooperation in the Indo-Pacific is so crucial.”
Speaking in Canberra hours before the U. S. presidential election on Nov. 5, India’s Jaishankar also said he believed Washington would  , continue to prioritize , the Quad no matter who won the vote.
According to Jaishankar,” I want to remind you that the Quad was actually revived in 2017 when a Trump presidency was in place,” the group even held in-person discussions during the COVID-19 pandemic. That ought to provide some insight into the potentials of it.
