Biden's China hands: Trusted allies tapped as Quad envoys

Ambassadors to Japan, Australia and India entrusted to enhance Indo-Pacific alliance

Then-U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, shakes hands with then-Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel during a roundtable discussion in 2014. Emanuel also has served as President Barack Obama's chief of staff. © Reuters

YUKIHIRO SAKAGUCHI, Nikkei staff writer

February 4, 2022 03:59 JST

WASHINGTON -- From a cantankerous Obama chief of staff to a Kennedy, U.S. President Joe Biden has named some of his closest allies as ambassadors to Japan, Australia and India -- key security partners collectively known as the Quad -- as he looks to bolster cooperation in the Indo-Pacific to counter China's military and economic rises.