Biden aims to put final stamp on Quad partnership with hometown summit

CNN —

President Joe Biden is convening the leaders of Australia, India and Japan for a Quad summit in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, this weekend, aiming to put a final stamp on an alliance he hopes will endure beyond his presidency.

The current partnership is set to enter a new era as half of its leaders — Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida — will soon leave office. With an eye to burnishing his foreign policy legacy, the president is turning to alliances like the Quad to make a final diplomatic push to counterbalance China’s rising influence as he prepares to hand off to a new administration.

Even as officials express confidence in the staying power of the Quad grouping, the question of whether Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump will lead the next administration, and what approach they will take to alliances and China, could loom large over the weekend gathering as the four leaders map out next steps in their agenda.

The Quad, which Bidenelevated to the leader level at the start of his term, has been a key pillar of his strategy in the Indo-Pacific. China and its aggressive moves in the South-China Sea is expected to feature high on the agenda when the leaders meet on Saturday, US officials said.

National security communications adviser John Kirby on Wednesday said he anticipates the leaders will discuss the “challenges that still exist in the region caused by aggressive PRC military action, for instance; unfair trade practices; tensions over the Taiwan Strait.”

In their fourth in-person gathering, they are expected to make announcements on maritime security and joint Coast Guard cooperation. The leaders will also focus on collaboration relating to humanitarian and