A planned summit of Quad leaders from the United States, India, Australia, and Japan in Sydney next week has been canceled after US President Joe Biden pulled out of his visit, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday, adding that talks could still proceed as leaders visit Japan.
Biden was slated to gather with Albanese, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio on May 24 for a meeting of the informal security dialogue, which is widely seen as a counter to China's aggressive posture in the region.
The late hour cancellation — which also saw Biden pull out of a visit to Papua New Guinea — comes as the US seeks to energize its security ties in the Pacific amid rising competition with Beijing.
But Washington's fractious domestic politics has curtailed what would have been a significant visit to Asia by a US president.
Biden had been planning to travel to Sydney for the summit as part of a weeklong Asia tour that was set to begin in Hiroshima, Japan for a Group of Seven (G7) leader summit, and include a stopover in Papua New Guinea for a meeting with Pacific Island leaders.
Biden will still travel to Japan starting Wednesday, but he canceled the additional legs of the trip, due to the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations in Washington, the White House confirmed Tuesday.
The Quad leaders would instead have discussions in Japan, where all four leaders would be over the weekend, Albanese said Wednesday, adding that no time had been confirmed.
"The Quad is an important body and we want to make sure that it occurs at leadership level and we'll be having that discussion over the weekend," the Australian leader said.
The meeting would be the third in-person leaders gathering for the Quad, known formally as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, which was founded over 15 years ago but has seen increased prominence in recent years.
The leaders were expected to discuss deepening their cooperation on a range of issues from critical and emerging technologies, climate change, maritime domain awareness, according to a statement released by the White House last month.
Albanese said the other Quad leaders could still visit Sydney next week and that discussions are underway.
The Australian leader also hinted at Biden's frustration that events on Capitol Hill had forced his hand.
Biden and Albanese spoke over the phone early Wednesday, in which Biden expressed his disappointment "at some of the actions of some members of Congress and the US Senate," Albanese said.
"It is behaviour that clearly is not in the interests of the people of the United States, but it's also because the US has a critical role as the world's largest economy. It has implications for the global economy as well, this hold up of the debt ceiling that they're engaged with," Albanese said.
