He refuted the allegations from Senator Ted Cruz that the Biden Administration has deprioritised countering China in the Quad.I sat in on every session of the Quad discussions, and in every session of those discussions, together with our three Quad partners, we’re talking about countering China. We’re talking about China countering China with security and defence activities.”We’re also talking about countering China with COVID vaccines as we know that this is part of China’s reach into the Indo Pacific. So I take exception to that statement. That is not what I witnessed, Lu said.In November 2017, the US, Australia, India and Japan gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the Quad to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence, amidst China’s growing military presence in the strategic region.China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea. Beijing is also involved in a maritime dispute with Japan over the East China Sea.
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