The summit, which comes after the Quad's first online leaders' conference in March, is part of a growing US-led effort to confront, destabilize, and subordinate China to the "international rules-based order" ruled by Washington, including through military means if necessary.

Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, claimed that the Quad conference was about "COVID, climate, emerging technology, and infrastructure," not "security" (i.e., the military buildup against China). "The focus is not [on] a security meeting or security apparatus," she told reporters.

Denying that the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue has anything to do with "security" is illogical.

The Quad summit was soon followed by announcing a new AUKUS military treaty between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, which includes the provision of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia. This decision has heightened tensions with China and threatens to sever ties between the United States and France, an ally who sees itself as a Pacific power, and the European Union in general.

The Biden administration placed both Japan and India on notice by announcing AUKUS just a week before the Quad meeting, putting their commitment to the rising US-China clash on the line.

On the other hand, Suga was stepping down as Prime Minister of Japan due to public outrage over his handling of the COVID-19 outbreak and could not make definitive pronouncements. Furthermore, widespread opposition to the repeal of the so-called pacifist clause in Tokyo's constitution, which prohibits the city from conducting war, continues to hinder the city.

India, for its part, has been silent in the wake of the AUKUS pronouncement. While New Delhi has forged close strategic ties with the United States over the last decade, it was formerly a close ally of the former Soviet Union and is not a recognized US ally. It is a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as an observer, founded by China and Russia to counter US dominance in Central Asia.

Nonetheless, the Quad has all the signs of a quadrilateral military alliance in the making—Australia and Japan are already formal US allies and host American military forces, while India has been deepening its strategic ties with the US, notably under Modi. India has negotiated military logistics support agreements with the US, Japan, and Australia, and all four militaries now take part in India's annual Malabar naval war games with the US.

Before the conference, the prime leaders of India, Japan, and Australia all repeated Biden's catchphrase of promoting "a free and open Indo-Pacific." Even though all four governments are encroaching on democratic rights, their leaders portray themselves as supporters of "democracy." China was the target, even though we constantly and hypocritically condemned it over "human rights."

Morrison was the most forthright, adding, "We are liberal democracies who believe in a world order that favors liberty." "[W]e wish to be always free of coercion, where all nations' sovereign rights are respected, and where disputes are settled peacefully in accordance with international law," he stated.

In fact, for the past three decades, the US has been conducting one predatory war after another in the Middle East and Central Asia to maintain its worldwide dominance. Governments in Australia have backed Washington to the hilt and sent military forces to the illegal invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Despite its failure in Afghanistan, the United States is forging alliances in anticipation of a potentially far more devastating battle with nuclear-armed China, which Washington sees as the greatest challenge to its global hegemony. Biden, who was vice president when Obama announced his anti-China "pivot to Asia" in 2011, has continued all of Trump's anti-China initiatives.

The four leaders were focused on combating China behind closed doors. Whether it was the provision of COVID-19 vaccines to the region, a new fellowship for students from the four countries, or the more overtly strategic issues of addressing cyber security, collaborating on "critical technologies," and securing supply chains, all of the topics listed for discussion contained an element of rivalry and confrontation with Beijing.

China has condemned the AUKUS announcement, calling it a return to a "Cold War mentality." The fear isn't that the globe will revert to the decades-long stalemate between the United States and the Soviet Union. Instead, it is threatened by a military clash between the world's two largest economies, both of which are nuclear-armed.

The Financial Times published an editorial piece by Edward Luce titled "A US-China clash is not unthinkable." It echoed concerns of conflict among elements of the ruling class in the United Kingdom and around the world. Despite Biden's rhetoric of diplomacy and working with China on everyday issues, Luce pointed out that "the strongest winds, however, are towards confrontation" amid a "hawkish domestic US consensus on China."

Unlike the Cold War fight with the Soviet Union, Luce cautioned, "Cold War 2.0 offers a different spectre—escalating geopolitical rivalry between the world's two largest powers with no clear exit ramp."

The historic fall of US imperialism lies at the root of Washington's rising tensions with Beijing. Unlike the Soviet Union, China poses a threat to US global domination because of its enormous economic weight and requirements for raw resources, energy, parts, and technologies. The US ruling class is no longer able to rely on unquestioned economic superiority. It is determined to utilize all measures at its disposal, including its remaining military force, to submit China to its interests.

Luce ended his remark with a half-hearted plea to Biden to mitigate the risks by noting "the possibility of a US-China collision—by accident or ignorance." In actuality, the Biden administration is actively preparing for a fight like this on many fronts, including the consolidation of military alliances and partnerships like AUKUS and the Quad.

The threat of war will not be prevented by appealing to Biden, Morrison, Suga, and Modi but by forming a powerful international working-class movement based on a socialist viewpoint to destroy the profit system that fuels the war drive.