WASHINGTON -- The national security adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday that the framework of the four-nation forum with Japan, Australia and India strengthened under the Trump administration will continue to serve as a deterrence to China in the region.
"I think we really want to carry forward and build on that format, that mechanism which we see as fundamental a foundation upon which to build substantial American policy in the Indo-Pacific region,"
Jake Sullivan said during an online forum on foreign policy for the new administration.
Sullivan expressed the intention to further develop the four-nation ties as a pillar of the U.S. strategy toward China, and deter China with sanctions.
He said the United States will strengthen its position through cooperation with its allies, emphasizing that "we are going to stand up for a certain set of principles in the face of aggression and the kinds of steps that China has taken."
In October last year, the four countries held a second meeting of foreign ministers, where it was decided to hold future gatherings on a regular basis. Paying due attention to China's increasingly hegemonic actions in the Indo-Pacific region, the four countries have been deepening cooperation from the perspective of national security issues.
Sullivan also addressed China's human rights issues and its posture on Hong Kong and Taiwan, saying the U.S. is "prepared to act as well to impose costs for what China is doing in the Xinjiang [Uygur Autonomous Region], what it's doing in Hong Kong, for the bellicosity of threats that it is projecting towards Taiwan."
Like the Trump administration, which took a hard-line stance toward China, Sullivan said the Biden-led government will not rule out the implementation of sanctions.
In regard to the normalization of diplomatic ties between Israel and Middle East countries, Sullivan said that Biden supports the policy started by his predecessor. "He sees that as being positive for security in the region, positive for economic development in the region, and positive for America's national interest," Sullivan said.
Conversely, Sullivan reiterated opposition to the Trump administration's withdrawing the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal.
"Iran's nuclear program has advanced dramatically over the course of the past couple of years, they are significantly closer to a nuclear weapon," Sullivan said, stressing that it is imperative for the United States to return to the nuclear deal to deter Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
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