Biden, 'Quad' leaders to talk maritime security as China tensions grow

WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (Reuters): Tensions brewing in Asia's trade-rich waters top the agenda as US President Joe Biden welcomes leaders from Australia, India and Japan to his Delaware hometown for a diplomatic push to counter China in the waning months of his presidency.

Biden heads to Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday ahead of the Quad Leaders Summit, where the leaders are expected to speak about conflict between Beijing and its neighbors in the South China Sea who have repeatedly clashed over disputed territory, US officials told Reuters.

On the agenda: stepped-up security cooperation in the Indian Ocean and progress to track illegal fishing fleets operating in the waters of the Indo-Pacific, most of which were Chinese.

Biden is set to hand over the presidency after a Nov. 5 election that will deliver the White House to his vice president, Kamala Harris, or Republican Donald Trump, who has vowed a confrontational approach with China and voiced skepticism about traditional US alliances.

Whether the Quad can survive Biden's presidency and keep tensions at bay is an open question. In addition to the handover at the White House next year, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will step down this month.

"You'll see a number of different signs throughout this meeting and the deliverables that the Quad is a bipartisan institution that is here to stay," a senior US official said.

The Quad is also expected to discuss health security, cancer treatment, technology and infrastructure measures.

Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, including territory inside exclusive economic zones of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. It also claims territories in the East China Sea contested by Japan and Taiwan. China also views self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory.

Biden has vowed to compete with China without letting their differences veer into conflict, and he is set to speak again soon with Chinese President Xi Jinping. But his desire to focus on the relationship with China has been sidetracked by conflict in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine.