Atlanta, Oct. 31 (Jiji Press)–The so-called Quad countries of Japan, the United States, Australia and India on Saturday announced a plan to provide over 85 million dollars to support access to reliable artificial intelligence services in the Indo-Pacific region. The plan was included in a joint press release on the outcome of a meeting of the foreign ministers from the Quad countries held in Atlanta in the U.S. state of Georgia. In the press release, the four ministers expressed “grave concerns regarding economic coercion, including through arbitrary export restrictions, as well as nonmarket policies and practices that result in overcapacity to disrupt global supply chains in critical industries.” They apparently had China in mind. At a press conference after the meeting, however, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed that the Quad “is not an anti-China or anti-anybody coalition.” He made the remark as U.S. President Donald Trump aims to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping two more times this year. Rubio also said that an announcement will be made soon on a Quad summit in November. The gathering is expected to take place on the sidelines of meetings related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the Philippine capital of Manila in mid-November. It will be the first Quad summit since 2024 and the first under the Trump administration. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
