In recent months, the stance on China has hardened, especially due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which originated in Wuhan.
US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, is travelling to Tokyo next week to participate in the second Quad ministerial meet
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Japan to attend the second meeting of the Quad foreign ministers
The meeting took place in the backdrop of China's growing military assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region
The talks are at a working level currently, but Japan would like to bring them to a higher level at some point, according to a person in Tokyo
"Exchanged views on responding to the Coronavirus challenge. Discussed meeting in the Quad format in the near future," he said
The resurgence of the Quad -- first conceived more than a decade ago during the Bush administration -- reflects growing unease over Chinese President Xi Jinping's more assertive foreign policy