Australia cancels Quad meeting in Sydney after Biden postponement

The Quad leaders of Australia, the United States, India and Japan would instead meet at the G7 in Japan this weekend, after Joe Biden cancelled a trip to Sydney

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday a Quad summit in Sydney would not go ahead without U.S. President Joe Biden, who postponed his trip to Australia due to debt ceiling negotiations in Washington.

Mr. Albanese said the leaders of Australia, the United States, India and Japan would instead meet at the G7 in Japan this weekend, after Mr. Biden cancelled a trip to Sydney on the second leg of his upcoming Asia trip, which was also to have included a visit to Papua New Guinea.

"The Quad leaders meeting will not be going ahead in Sydney next week. We, though will be having that discussion between Quad leaders in Japan," Mr. Albanese told a news conference.

A bilateral programme in Sydney with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi could still go ahead next week, Mr. Albanese said.

Mr. Albanese did not comment on whether Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would still visit Sydney next week.

The Quad is an informal group that promotes an open Indo-Pacific. Beijing sees it as an attempt to push back against its growing influence in the region.

Asia Society Policy Institute senior fellow Richard Maude said the cancellation of Mr. Biden's visit to Papua New Guinea, which would have been the first visit by an American president to an independent Pacific islands nation, could set back Washington's battle for influence with Beijing in the region.