Meanwhile... As the Ukrainian crisis intensifies, the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, began, on Wednesday February 9, a tour of the Asia-Pacific region to consolidate local partnerships there in the face of a Chinese conquering.

Antony Blinken is due to spend three days in Melbourne for a meeting of the foreign ministers of the "Quad", a US alliance with Australia, India and Japan, which Washington hopes will become an effective bulwark against the wills regional dominance of China.

The American Secretary of State will meet there with senior Australian officials, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison, with whom he is expected to try to strengthen the trilateral "Aukus" military alliance (Australia, United Kingdom, United States), announced in September to counter China.

Canberra has purchased US nuclear submarines under this alliance.

After his departure from Australia scheduled for Saturday, Antony Blinken must also make a stopover in Fiji to meet with several leaders of the Pacific islands, in person or virtually, many of whom are courted by China.

"The main message that the Secretary of State will convey is that our partnerships deliver on their promise," said Daniel Kritenbrink, Assistant Secretary of State for the Pacific and East Asia.

"The 'Quad' is a key economic and security component of US foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific region...to counter aggression and coercion."

Covid-19 and global warming

Created in 2007, the Quad was revived in 2017, when Australia really got involved in it to counter Beijing, accused in particular of intimidation and military expansionism in the South China Sea.

Canberra had participated in joint alliance maneuvers in 2020, a year that saw Chinese and Indian troops clash several times over a disputed border area, pushing usually unaligned New Delhi towards the Quad.

The Melbourne meeting will also focus on Covid-19 and global warming, and set the agenda for a meeting of Quad Heads of State scheduled for mid-year.

Antony Blinken's move comes as the Russian threat to Ukraine continues.

According to Washington, Russia has amassed more than 110,000 troops on its border with Ukraine in order to invade its pro-Western neighbor.

"It's not alarmism. It's just the facts," Antony Blinken said Monday at a press conference.

With AFP

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