The foreign ministers of Japan, the United States, Australia and India agreed Thursday they "strongly" oppose any attempts by China to alter the status quo in the Indo-Pacific region by force, in their first such meeting since the change of the U.S. administration.
Speaking to reporters after an online meeting of the Quad group, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said the ministers also affirmed the need to swiftly restore democracy in Myanmar, where the state military staged a coup on Feb. 1.
"We had candid talks about cooperation toward the free and open Indo-Pacific and on regional and global issues," including responses to the novel coronavirus pandemic and climate change, Motegi said.