China tried to warn US off strengthening Quad, reveals Biden

London: US President Joe Biden has revealed how China tried to warn him off strengthening the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, referred to as the Quad as an informal strategic partnership between India, Japan, Australia and the United States.

Addressing a press conference at the conclusion of the UK-hosted G7 Summit in Cornwall on Sunday, the President who took charge in the White House earlier this year said that in his conversation with a Chinese leader he was asked about his international relations plans before he assumed the presidency. Biden did not reveal the identity of the Chinese leader.

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke to Biden for two hours in February, days after he assumed office as the US President.

On February 11, President Biden said: "Last night, I was on the phone for two straight hours with Xi Jinping. And you all know as well as I do, these folks - and it was a good conversation. I know him well. We spent a lot of time together over the years I was Vice President."

When I was asked what I was going to be doing after being elected, I said we're going to re-establish the strength of American relationships so we can be counted on again , Biden recalled on Sunday of the meeting with the unidentified Chinese leader.

The Chinese leader then requested him to not get India, Japan, Australia, and the US together under the Quad umbrella. Biden said the Chinese leader suggested that, "Well, maybe you (Biden) shouldn't get the Quad " - meaning India, Japan, Australia, and the United States - " working together."

Known as the "Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, representatives for the four member nations have met periodically since its establishment in 2007.

Interestingly, Biden hosted the first virtual summit of Quad leaders on March 12.

During the summit, President Biden told leaders of the coalition that a "free and open" Indo-Pacific is essential to their countries and vowed that his country was committed to working with its partners and allies in the region to achieve stability.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Japanese counterpart Yoshihide Suga attended the virtual summit.

The Quad member states have been resolving to uphold a rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific amid growing Chinese assertiveness in the region.

The Quadrilateral alliance is often projected in the official media in China as an alliance against the Communist

giant's rise.