A Caged Dragon's Response

The quartet tried to show it off as a talk shop. But the dragon isn't buying it. It may be one more bullet point on the Chinese list of justifications for spending close to $100 billion per year on it defence. But still Chinese are unhappy. Our babus aren't talking about it though.

Beijing, June 27: China has asked India, the United States, Japan and Australia, who are trying to forge a quadripartite format not to go against the global trend and be "open and inclusive" while a Chinese expert believes it would "divide" Asia... "We have noticed relevant reports," Qin said without confirming or denying Indian media reports that China has sought an explanation from New Delhi, Washington, Tokyo and Canberra on the purpose of holding the first-ever meeting of senior officials of the four nations on May 24-25 in Manila, the Philippines. According to media reports, the meeting, held on the sidelines of an ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) session, discussed issues like disaster management, economic cooperation and energy issue. All four countries also agreed to meet again to continue their dialogue. [IE]

It's nice to know the Chinese are for openness. India should keep smiling and get on with the dialouge with the quartet.