NHK recently spoke with a former US State Department official about the outlook for the Quad summit of the leaders of Australia, India, Japan, and the US.

Temple University of Japan Adjunct Professor Ken Moskowitz, who served for three decades as a foreign service officer at the US State Department, says President Joe Biden intends to use the summit to send a message to allies and potential adversaries.

Moskowitz said, "I think there might have been a perception with the kind of chaotic US departure from Afghanistan. There might be an opportunity for China to make a move in Taiwan, or elsewhere, in the South China Seas. So it's important, I think even without Ukraine or without Afghanistan, for the US to periodically remind its partners of its commitments, that it's promised it will be there."

He said the diversity of member countries sets the Quad apart from other major international security pacts, including defensive ones, like NATO.

He also said, "The Chinese immediately called the quad a sort of NATO Asia, signaling that they don't like it at all. But what you don't have in Asia, it's very difficult to get a security organization like NATO, because you don't have like-minded, culturally similar countries that you have in Europe."

The four leaders will likely discuss ways to address territorial disputes while ensuring access to the region's abundant natural resources.

Moskowitz said, "That might be mineral deposits and resources in the in the oceans, especially in the South China Sea and perhaps suspected deposits around the Senkaku Islands. But it's also there to again enforce this concept of a free and open Pacific, a rules based system in outer space with reference to their adversaries in in Asia."

Moskowitz added the meeting will play an important role in the Biden administration's foreign policy strategy.

Tuesday's Quad summit is the second to be held in-person. Last year's meeting, hosted by Washington, focused on economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.