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China is alarmed by the Quad. But its threats are driving the group closer together

The driving force behind the Quad China's initial dismissal of the Quad was partly based on precedent. A previous iteration of the Quad -- proposed in 2007 by Japan's then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe -- lasted barely a year due to a divergence of interests and pressure from Beijing. It crumbled in January 2008, when Australia announced its withdrawal from the grouping to pursue closer trade ties with China. But the geopolitical and strategic calculus in the region has shifted drastically over the past decade. Under Xi, China has abandoned former leader Deng Xiaoping's decades-old mantra of "hide your strength, bide your time." Instead, it has pursued a more assertive foreign policy, readily flexing its economic muscle and military might. A year after Xi took office, China started building -- and increasingly militarizing -- artificial islands throughout the contested waters of the South China Sea. It has increased its military posturing toward Japan, sending Chinese coastguard vessels into waters around the contested Senkaku Islands (known as the Diaoyu Islands in China) and flying warplanes into the airspace above.

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