A few weeks before a historical meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, with major developments going on around the Korean Peninsula, the future of Northeast Asia is the focus of the world's attention. Despite this, while visiting Australia in early May, French President Emmanuel Macron appeared oblivious of the close strategic connections between the Northeast Asian theater, where Japan is a major player, and the "Indo-Pacific axis" that he stressed during his trip.
It was Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who, in 2007, launched the idea of a security network, based on common interests and values, with all the willing democratic powers. It is also Abe who relaunched the theme in 2012, after his return to power, around the concept of a "security diamond" comprising the United States, Australia, India and Japan. This format is also the basis for the resurrected Quad discussions between these major players in the region.
Confronted with an increasingly ambitious and aggressive Chinese strategy since Xi Jinping came to power, the region's democratic powers, who had been hesitant for a long time, have rallied behind this initiative.