Sept 24, 2021 Quad Summit's Non-Alliance Hides Much

Thanks Gessler for his 2 extended comments on the first face-to-face Quad Summit Meeting, Washington DC, September 24, 2021. The Quad's long, unofficial, title being  "Quadrilateral Security Dialogue".

Gessler has sought my "opinions and/or analysis on this overall subject of QUAD v/s China." 

I'd say the prior to meeting drafted Quad Principles affirmations and Quad Fact Sheet both dated Sept 24, 2021 seek to gain ground from China on many global/regional policy areas. 

Those Principles/areas/values most pointedly aimed at China include: 

-  "freedom of expression and privacy".
-  "dignity of individuals"
-  [against] "authoritarian surveillance and oppression..." and
-  "free and fair market competition"

Implicitly critical of China the "initiatives" in the Fact Sheet include:

-  ending the COVID-19 pandemic, including by increasing production and access to safe
   and effective vaccines [China invented vaccines being notoriously seen as less effective
   than Western invented vaccines.]
-  combatting the climate crisis [China's "developing country" flexibility re Paris
    targets remains a problem. Though India is also dubbed "developing"...]
-  China often seen as threat to Cybersecurity "the Quad will launch new efforts to bolster
    critical-infrastructure resilience against cyber threats"

Main Pete Comments

The whole group sentiment of the Summit was to not be too counter-productively confrontational against China. The Principles and Initiatives emerging from the above Summit studiously avoided any implying Quad military alliance hard power subjects (although "Cybersecurity" comes  close).

All 4 Quad "dialoguers" (US, India, Japan and Australia) have not formed a military alliance (eg. no "Asian NATO"). However all 4, in subsets, or in total, are increasingly engaged in joint land, air and naval (eg. Malabar) exercises.

It is a reality that India's continuing friendship withe Russia and Japan's self defence policies work against any open show of a Quad alliance with the US as senior ally. Any affirmation of an alliance in a summit meeting held in Washington (hence seen as a "Washington Agreement") would run particularly counter to India's traditions. However, much goes on behind the scenes, particularly in intelligence liaison and underwater. 

Underwater in the sense that Chinese submarines proceeding to-from China to the Indian Ocean are tracked by submarines, other mobile platforms, "Quad" fixed undersea and geostationary satellite platforms. 

Unofficial "corridor" Quad meetings and secret backchannel arrangements between Quad dialoguers are increasing - even if India and Japan do not want to openly enter a Quad alliance.