'Quad has been reinvigorated': Pompeo tells US lawmakers in big signal to China

In a big admission that will surely throw chills down China's throat, the United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has said that the 'Quadrilateral Security Dialogue' – more commonly known as 'Quad' –  involving the US, India, Japan, and Australia "has been reinvigorated".

In a statement to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday, Mike Pompeo listed out a string of accomplishments America had on the China front and highlighted steps taken by other countries to counter Beijing's bellicose attitude. 

"Japan led the G7’s condemnation of China’s national security law targeting Hong Kong. The EU condemned the law too, and also declared China a “systemic rival” just last year... Our Quad – the United States, Australia, India, and Japan – has been reinvigorated," Pompeo told US lawmakers.

He highlighted India's recent digital strike on Chinese businesses by banning over a hundred Chinese apps following the deadly clashes in Ladakh in June. Pompeo asserted that Washington's diplomatic efforts are working, and momentum is building to mitigate the threats that the Chinese Communist Party presents by citing examples of countries standing up to Beijing.

"In the Indo-Pacific, Australia has declared China's South China Sea claims unlawful and illegitimate as have we... India has banned 106 Chinese applications that threatened its citizens’ privacy and security. Our diplomatic efforts are working, and momentum is building to mitigate the threats that the Chinese Communist Party presents. All 10 ASEAN nations have insisted that the South China Sea disputes must be settled on basis of international law, including UNCLOS," Pompeo said.

America's top diplomat has applauded New Delhi many times over the app ban and its renewed interest to fire up the Quad. Indian, US, and Japanese navies are scheduled to hold their annual 'Malabar' exercises later this year and India is expected to finally invite Australia to join. The Quad has been seen as a credible and potent deterrent to China's increasingly aggressive posture on geopolitical and economic affairs.

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'Distrust and verify'

Pompeo had previously said that 'distrust and verify' will be the new US policy when it comes to the Asian power. Pompeo also called on the international coalition of the nations to “pressurise” China in a more creative and assertive manner.  

In his address at Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California, Pompeo last week said, "The only way to truly change communist China is to act on the basis of what its leaders do, not what they say. When it comes to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), I say, 'distrust and verify'.”

Calling Chinese actions as a threat to the world, Pompeo further stressed that “the free nations” of the world, must induce a change in the CCP's ways as its actions threaten global prosperity. Pompeo warned, “If the free world does not change communist China, then communist China will change us.”

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