WASHINGTON: Top American lawmakers from the opposition Republican party on Friday welcomed the virtual Quad summit and praised the Biden administration for working with leading democracies in the region to promote economic and security cooperation.
“Members of the Quad, and other important regional partners like Asean, have a long-term interest in promoting and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific,” house foreign affairs committee lead Republican Michael McCaul said following President Joe Biden‘s virtual meeting with leaders of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad).
The Quad includes leaders from Japan, India, and Australia.
“I am pleased to see the Biden administration working with leading democracies in the region to promote economic and security cooperation, and counter coercion by any country looking to dismantle democratic values and rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific,” McCaul said.
Republican Senator Bill Hagerty, a member of the foreign relations committee and former ambassador to Japan, said that the Quad is one of America’s most important and strategic partnerships, with diplomatic, security, economic, technological, and health cooperation among the United States, Japan, India, and Australia reaching new heights in recent years.
“With the growing threat of Communist China and their predatory actions in the region and around the world, the Quad’s strength and shared values are critical to preserving and strengthening the free and open Indo-Pacific,” he said.
“As former US ambassador to Japan, I worked closely with my Quad counterparts, so I applaud President Biden, Prime Minister Suga, Prime Minister Modi, and Prime Minister Morrison for convening this group at the highest level today. My hope is that the Biden administration continues the Trump administration’s historic efforts to strengthen and expand the Quad,” Hagerty said.