US President Joe Biden was caught making behind-closed-door remarks about China because of a hot mic blunder at the Quad summit held on Saturday.
“China continues to behave aggressively, testing us all across the region,” Biden was heard saying, as reported by AFP.
Biden said that while Chinese President Xi Jinping is concentrating on “domestic economic challenges, “looking to buy himself some diplomatic space, in my view, to aggressively pursue China’s interest.”
However, he insisted that recent “intense efforts” by the US, including a call with Xi in April, were aiding in reducing tensions.
This comes amidst no direct reference to the Indian neighbour in the joint statement issued by the four attending nations.
“We are seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas,” the declaration said.
Trying to downplay the error, a senior official said, “I don’t think I have much to elaborate on that. It’s consistent with what has been said before, and I don’t think it’ll be much of a surprise that our inside voice matches our outside voice.”
“I think it’s not surprising that China would have been on the agenda. It’s an Indo-Pacific convening. This is an Indo-Pacific partnership. China is a major country in the Indo-Pacific. But I think it’s also fair to say that there were a number of other topics on the agenda,” he added.
China is involved in intense territorial disputes in the South China Sea and the East China Sea, asserting sovereignty over the entire South China Sea, which is challenged by Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, and Taiwan.
The Quad promotes a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific, while China contends that the coalition seeks to contain its growing influence.