China has slammed the Quad as a "small clique" hell-bent on creating conflict, saying it will be to their "detriment." The US "has been ganging up in the Asia Pacific area, creating trilateral and quadrilateral little cliques, and set on sparking confrontation," China's Permanent Representative Zhang Jun warned the Security Council on Thursday. Zhang's comment comes after the Quad Foreign Ministers met in Melbourne last week to reaffirm their commitment to a non-coercive Indo-Pacific area.

The Quad is made up of India, the United States, Australia, and Japan, whose Foreign Ministers met in Melbourne last week, while the "trilateral" is the AUKUS, the US-UK-Australia security pact announced last year. 

Zhang, speaking at a Council briefing on Ukraine, attempted to link the Indo-Pacific developments with the European discussion over NATO expansion, which is a topic of contention for Russia with Ukraine and the West. He did not mention the United States by name, instead referring to "one country," with the context indicating that he was referring to the United States.

"What it is doing will only further divide and destabilise the Asia-Pacific region, endangering the area's peace and stability to the detriment of the region's countries while gaining nothing for itself." He stated, "China wants the concerned nations to learn from history." 

While Chinese forces have crossed the Line of Actual Control into India and clashed with Indian troops, Zhang said the Quad countries should "adopt the approach of enhancing mutual trust and resolving disputes through dialogue and consultation, and do more to contribute to world peace and regional stability."

"NATO enlargement is an issue that cannot be overlooked while dealing with the present problems relating to Ukraine," he added, endorsing Russia. NATO's continued expansion in the post - cold War period War goes against the current trend of maintaining shared security. "This applies as much to the European region as to other regions of the world. There is one country that refuses to renounce the Cold War mentality."

The Quad is not a security alliance and has no stated goal of becoming one. Its focus has been on cooperation in regional aid programmes. But its statements of commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region free of aggression and coercion causes unease in Beijing.

India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, US Secretary of State and Foreign Ministers Marise Payne of Australia and Hayashi Yoshimasa of Japan said in a joint statement after their Melbourne meeting that they backed "Indo-Pacific countries' efforts to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific Â- a region which is inclusive and resilient, and in which states strive to protect the interests of their people, free from coercion".

Without mentioning China which poses a common threat to the four countries, the Ministers said: "Quad partners champion the free, open, and inclusive rules-based order, rooted in international law, that protects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of regional countries."

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