The Quad is a tool for containing and besieging Beijing to maintain US hegemony and the mechanism aims to stoke confrontation and undermine international solidarity, said China on Friday after Foreign Ministers of Quad countries held a meeting in Australia, stressing adherence to international law to meet challenges to the maritime rules-based order in the South and East China Seas.
"I want to stress that as the Cold War is long over, the attempt to forge a so-called alliance to contain China wins no support and leads nowhere," said Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry.
"Relevant countries should abandon the antiquated Cold War mentality, correct the wrong approach of bloc confrontation and geopolitical games, and contribute to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific," Zhao added.
The spokesperson further informed that China believes that the so-called Quad group cobbled together by the US, Japan, India and Australia is essentially a tool for containing and besieging China to maintain US hegemony. "It aims to stoke confrontation and undermine international solidarity and cooperation."
It came after Quad countries on Friday during the fourth Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Australia reiterated the importance of adherence to international law to meet challenges to the maritime rules-based order in the South and East China Seas.
"The Quad recognises that international law, peace, and security in the maritime domain underpins the development and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific," said the Foreign Ministers of Australia, India, and Japan and the Secretary of State of the United States in a joint statement after the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Melbourne on Friday.
"We reiterate the importance of adherence to international law, particularly as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to meet challenges to the maritime rules-based order, including in the South and East China Seas," the statement added.
Australia hosted India, Japan and the United States for the fourth Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting in Melbourne on Friday, where top diplomats sought to bolster cooperation in areas including economy, security, COVID-19 pandemic and free and open Indo-Pacific.
( With inputs from ANI )
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