Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 25. The U.S., Japan, India, and Australia are unpopular

　　Xinhua News Agency reporter

　　The leaders of the United States, Japan, India, and Australia met in Washington on the 24th and expressed that they would deepen relations and promote cooperation to meet challenges.

Although the United States claimed that the "four-nation mechanism" was not aimed at specific countries, the documents released after the meeting showed that it was aimed at China.

　　Analysts pointed out that the United States has frequently engaged in closed and exclusive "small circles" in the Asia-Pacific region recently, seriously jeopardizing regional peace and stability.

The Cold War mentality of the United States, Japan, India, and Australia is unpopular.

　　Gang show gesture

　　In March of this year, the four countries of the United States, Japan, India and Australia held their first leaders-level meeting online, and this Washington meeting was the first offline meeting of leaders of the four countries.

Documents released after the meeting show that the four countries will cooperate in areas such as epidemic response, health and safety, infrastructure, climate change, humanities education, key and emerging technologies, cyber security, and space.

　　Although the leaders of the four countries avoided directly naming China in public speeches and joint statements, and US officials also called the "four-nation mechanism" an "informal mechanism" that focuses on practical cooperation and does not target a single country, public opinion generally believes that the intention of the mechanism is obvious It is to respond to China's increasing influence in the region.

　　The "four-nation mechanism" is not the only multilateral mechanism created by the United States in the Asia-Pacific region.

Not long ago, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia announced the establishment of a new trilateral security partnership, with the United States and Britain supporting Australia in building nuclear submarines.

　　Zhang Jie, a researcher at the Institute of Asia-Pacific and Global Strategies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that after the Biden administration came to power, it has accelerated the institutionalization of the US-Japan-India-Australia dialogue and used it as a pillar regional mechanism for advancing the so-called "Indo-Pacific Strategy."

Engaging in a multilateral mechanism to attract more allies and partners to join the strategic competition of major powers, this strategy of the Biden administration has become increasingly clear.

The "Australia-UK-US alliance" focuses on the security field, and the "four-nation mechanism" is now strengthening cooperation in economic and other fields. The United States is trying to complement these mechanisms and achieve the goal of containing China to the maximum.

　　Cold War mentality is unpopular

　　Analysts pointed out that the United States’ “small circle” diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific region has aggravated regional tensions, seriously jeopardized regional security and stability, and harmed regional national interests, which is unpopular.

　　Zhang Tengjun, deputy director of the Asia-Pacific Institute of the China Institute of International Studies, said that the "four-nation mechanism" is undoubtedly a product of the Cold War mentality, and the risk of the Asia-Pacific region falling into a "new cold war" is rising.

In the past few years, the security situation in the Asia-Pacific has been relatively stable. However, after the emergence of this mechanism, external forces have continued to intervene, the overall security and stability have been disrupted, and some hotspot issues may heat up again.

　　Hu Bo, director of the "South China Sea Strategic Situational Awareness Program" pointed out that the US "Indo-Pacific Strategy" ignores the growing policy independence of small and medium-sized countries in Asia. Choose sides between China and the United States.

　　In fact, after the United States, Britain and Australia announced their nuclear submarine cooperation plan, the Indonesian and Malaysian governments expressed their concerns.

The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs urges Australia to abide by its commitments in relevant treaties and respect international law; Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail pointed out that the "Australia-UK-US alliance" may become a "catalyst to trigger a nuclear arms race in the Indo-Pacific region."

　　Each has its own "small abacus"

　　Analysts pointed out that the United States hopes to use the "four-nation mechanism" to engage in great power competition, but due to differences within the four countries and limited resources and capabilities, this attempt will be difficult to succeed.

　　Zhang Tengjun said that the "four-nation mechanism" has held two summits in half a year. It seems that progress is going smoothly, but the actual results are few. The main reason is that countries have different priorities and different levels of resources.

And in terms of its attitude towards China, the United States hopes to build this mechanism into a “small circle” against China in an all-round way, but other countries do not necessarily want fierce confrontation with China.

　　India, which has a tradition of non-alignment, is considered the most cautious member of the four countries.

Indian scholar Raja Mohan pointed out that there have always been "two voices" in India towards the "four-nation mechanism", but even the "voices" that welcome the mechanism are worried that the Indian government will therefore abandon the non-alignment policy and its long-standing adherence to the mechanism. Diplomatic independence strategy.

　　The U.S.'s various "small circles" in the Asia-Pacific region have also aroused dissatisfaction from the Indian side.

Hash Pant, a senior researcher at the Indian Observer Research Foundation, said that the “Australia-UK-US alliance” has made India increasingly worried that similar arrangements established by the United States will weaken the strategic necessity of the “four-nation mechanism”.

　　Regarding the “high-quality” infrastructure and semiconductor “safe” supply chains that the four countries claim to jointly build, Professor Zhao Hongwei of Hosei University in Japan pointed out that the four countries lack the ability to engage in large-scale infrastructure overseas. They face the hollowing out of domestic manufacturing, lack of talents and funds, Problems such as high engineering costs and long construction periods; the so-called semiconductor industry chain cooperation of the four countries violates market laws, and it is difficult for many companies to participate, so the prospects are not optimistic.

(Reporters involved: Liu Pinran, Xingyue, Zhao Xu, Yue Dongxing, Bai Xu, Guo Dan, Zhu Ruiqing, Yang Dingdu)