Planning is under way to establish a joint regional infrastructure scheme led by the US, India, Japan and Australia, as the four countries continue efforts to balance China’s growing regional influence.
One senior US official said as much in an interview with the Australian Financial Review, adding that Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is expected to discuss the plan during talks in Washington, DC, this week, possibly during a meeting with President Donald Trump.
The official played down the idea that the plan would be a “rival” to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, saying he preferred the word “alternative.”
Talks were still in the preliminary stages and the plan “won’t be ripe enough to be announced during Mr Turnbull’s visit, but was being seriously discussed,” AFR quoted the source as saying.
“No one is saying China should not build infrastructure,” the official said.
“China might build a port which on its own is not economically viable. We could make it economically viable by building a road or rail line linking that port.”
The planning comes as the Trump administration embraces Japan’s articulation of a “free and open Indo-Pacific.” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe first coined the phrase in 2016, according to Fumiaki Kubo, a University of Tokyo professor, after which Trump used the expression repeatedly on his first tour of Asia.
The four countries agreed last November to revive the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or “Quad,” on the sidelines of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summit held in Manila. The dialogue was first conceived in 2007, but was subsequently shelved amid complaints from Beijing.
The AFR report comes a week after it wrote that the China hawk nominated to be the US ambassador to Australia, Harry Harris, was expressing concerns about China’s “predatory economic behavior in the Indo-Pacific.”
Turnbull will head to Washington on Wednesday for a three-day visit during which he will meet with Trump and lead a delegation of Australian politicians and business executives.
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I find this attitude refreshing. So many wish to fan the flames of war with their condemnation of the major players in the world. It may not be possible to have peaceful coexistence and competition, but it is worth trying and if anyone can pull it off, Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin can.
This cannot be a belt and road alternative if it does not passes on land.????
This is actually good news for the region. A lot of infrastructure money will be passed around. This is the way it should be and not through war. They are competing to make the world a better place.
Who is paying?
Taiwan has only itself to be blamed. Too small, too weak, too few resources. We party with the rich and the powerful.
It should be the ChiComm, they are the bully
Fernando Gutierrez he is alrigth his name is vietnamies
Remember the last time the US tried a guns and butter policy? If Americans want infrastructure at home or abroad its propensity to kill, maim and destroy, while easier than building constructive systems, needs to give way.
US, JAPAN AND AUSTRALIA offcourse. India haa beggers to contribute.
Deny to Duterte the benefit of a quadrilateral relation among US, Australia, India, and Japan in South East Asia for Digong’s insolence. He has to pay the price!