The United States does not abandon its efforts to form a coalition against China. Since the presidency of Barack Obama, the US administration has been trying to help its Asian partners to avoid China’s dominance in the region. Former President Barack Obama was ready to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, but newly elected President Donald Trump decided to withdraw from the TPP trade deal, saying it was not beneficial to the country. It seems that Donald Trump was mostly interested in military coalitions rather than in trade partnerships. He even revived the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or the Quad, created in 2007-2008. The Quad is an informal strategic forum between the United States, Japan, Australia, and India which is often described by experts as an attempt to create a NATO type alliance in Asia. “As partners in this Quad, it is more critical now than ever that we collaborate to protect our people and partners from the CCP’s exploitation, corruption and coercion,” Pompeo said at the October meeting, referring to the ruling Chinese Communist Party. However, eager to maintain stable ties with China, key Southeast Asian countries have distanced themselves from Pompeo’s statement. For India, Australia, and Japan, China remains an important trading partner, so they do not want to antagonize China directly. The US, however, maintains the same tough stance against China and continues the trade war with Beijing by increasing tariffs on Chinese goods, blocking the supply of high-tech goods to Chinese manufacturers, and denying Chinese companies access to the US market.
