Japan, U.S., Australia, India vow to create free, open Indo-Pacific

The foreign ministers of Japan, the United States, Australia and India affirmed Tuesday they will step up coordination to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific, taking aim at what Washington called China's "exploitation, corruption and coercion" of smaller states in the region.The four major Indo-Pacific democracies, known as the Quad, called on other countries to join the initiative, Japan's Toshimitsu Motegi said after a meeting in Tokyo with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.Speaking a…READ FULL ARTICLE