Japan's Kishida: Quad Agreed No Ukraine Repeat In Indo-Pacific

Wires and social media reporting comments from Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the virtual summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the 'Quad') to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

• Kishida said to have said that he and leaders of the US, Australia, and India agreed that 'a unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force, as seen in Ukraine, should never be permitted to happen in the Indo-Pacific'.
• Clearly Kishida referring to fears in Quad of a similar scenario in which Beijing attempts to take control of Taiwan by force.
• Many commentators initially believed Russian invasion of Ukraine could make such an event more likely, with the West not getting militarily involved. However, the major sanctions imposed on the Russian state and the difficulty with which Russian forces have had in advancing is now being viewed as potentially discouraging for Beijing with regards to any designs it might have on Taiwan.