The Defence Ministers from Japan, the United States, Australia and the Philippines on 2 May pledged to maintain the rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region, where all four share similar threats and concerns over China's increasing assertiveness. US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines to deepen ties and increase military consolidation. Pentagon officials have privately nicknamed the new quadrilateral grouping as  the “Squad.” The defence chiefs of the “Squad” had met for the first time in June 2023 on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

With Quad’s relatively lacklustre momentum lately, the inclusion of the Philippines in the new security grouping sends a new message of defiance and deterrence to China. It also sends a strong message to existing allies, potential allies and current fence-sitters in the region that regardless of the war in Ukraine and the crisis in West Asia, the laser focus on China and the Indo-Pacific region remains unwavering.

Officially, the Squad’s main aims are to counter aggression and coercion and defend stability and the rules-based order, and ensure that defence capabilities among their militaries are increasingly agile, interoperable. While still leading in conventional naval capacity, Washington realises that Beijing is closing the gap in using regional tools to build geographical advantages, including new bases such as Ream in Cambodia.

Joint naval exercises

Last month, the four nations conducted their first full-scale joint naval exercises in the South China Sea,  the Maritime Cooperative Activity, to demonstrate their collective readiness and commitment to defend regional rules-based order and deter Beijing’s bellicosity. Each of the four powers has its own regional concerns regarding China. The Philippines is the most affected nation in recent times, being under a continuous barrage of Beijing’s agressive measures, especially in the Second Thomas Shoal, from laser incidents to water cannoning of Filipino vessels. Japan has long-standing disputes and concerns with Beijing over the ownership of the Senkaku Islands and historical wariness of past conflicts.

Australia has seen its ties with China deteriorating during the pandemic era, with accusations over the virus origins and the subsequent economic and trade tools used by Beijing that led Canberra to revitalise its deterrent and defence capacities, starting with the AUKUS pact. Beijing’s increased presence and activities in the Pacific Islands states further threaten Australia’s strategic interests.

This new bloc is vital for both the US and regional players, especially the Philippines which is not part of the original Quad. For Australia and Japan, this new partnership represents a more focused security arrangement with greater on-the-ground ease of conducting military activities as compared to the more bureaucratic Quad.

Pushback against Beijing

For the US, it gives a new opening to bolster regional presence, close the gap, and leverage regional allies’ advantage and support to push back against China.

While AUKUS will take a longer time to yield its intended impact, the Squad will have greater manoeuvring capacity and legitimacy with fewer hindrances and pushback from regional players. Realising that the region stands aligned with its balanced and neutral approach, the desire for more realistic security assurance and support has never wavered, especially in the wake of increased rules-defying behaviours of China and the spin-off effects from the wars in Ukraine and the conflicts in West Asia.

(The author is a Kuala Lumpur-based strategic and security analyst. Views are personal. He can be contacted at collins@um.edu.my)