Prime Minister Albanese cancelled a Quad meeting in Australia after US President Biden announced he would not attend.
"The Quad leaders' meeting will not take place in Sydney next week," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said today. The Quad is a security mechanism established by the US, Japan, Australia and India to promote an open Indo- Pacific .
The information was released after US President Joe Biden announced on May 16 that he would shorten his trip to Asia to return home to resolve the debt ceiling issue. Accordingly, the White House boss will only go to Japan to attend the G7 summit and skip two planned stops including Papua New Guinea and Australia.
Prime Minister Albanese said the Quad leaders will still be present at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 20-21. "We will try to meet during that time. I will have a bilateral meeting with President Biden," Mr Albanese said.
India and Australia are not part of the G7 group, which includes the US, UK, France, Germany, Canada, Japan and Italy, but were invited by Tokyo to attend the expanded G7 Summit.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in London, England on May 5. Photo: AFP
According to Mr. Albanese, President Biden had a phone call and apologized for not being able to come to Australia. The two countries will discuss to arrange the visit as soon as possible.
White House press secretary Karrine Jean-Pierre confirmed the news, saying the Quad remains a "priority" for the Biden administration. "The group makes an important contribution to the United States' ability to pursue its foreign policy goals and promote global stability and prosperity," Jean-Pierre said.
The Quad meeting was originally scheduled for May 24. Albanese said the bilateral program with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi could still go ahead. He did not comment on whether Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would also come to Sydney.
Richard Maude, a researcher at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said the cancellation of the Papua New Guinea visit could undermine US efforts to increase its influence in the region. If the visit takes place, Mr. Biden will be the first sitting US president to visit the Pacific island nation.
Nhu Tam (According to Reuters, ABC News )
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