News Analysis The Biden administration now pledges to intensify U.S. engagement in the Indo-Pacific to counter communist China’s growing aggression in the region. “The future of each of our nations—and indeed the world— depends on a free and open Pacific,” President Joe Biden said in a speech at the first Quad leaders summit on Sept. 24, 2021. The Quad consists of the United States, India, Australia, and Japan. On Feb. 11, the White House released its Indo-Pacific Strategy white paper, which states that regional governments should have the freedom to make their own sovereign choices, free of coercion. This includes maintaining a rules-based approach to the management and shared usage of the maritime domain, including in the South China Sea and the East China Sea. According to the paper, the Trump administration “recognized the Indo-Pacific as the world’s center of gravity.” In reference to the paper, a senior U.S. administration official …