Beijing is worried about what the so-called Quad could become and has previously labelled the group ‘an anti-China frontline’

When Australia’s foreign minister, Marise Payne, travels to Tokyo next week to “deepen ties with like-minded partners” Japan, India and the United States, she is sure to be swapping notes with her counterparts on how each country is handling tensions with China.

Experts say the high-level meeting of the “Quad” won’t do anything to ease Australia’s current diplomatic turbulence with Beijing, but they see it as an important signalling exercise: foreign ministers from four of the Indo-Pacific region’s maritime democracies coordinating their policies and standing together in the face of common challenges.

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