Following the recent Quad – an informal strategic group of the four countries – foreign ministry-level meeting in Tokyo, the US is sending its Deputy Secretary of State to India on a two-day trip next week to further strengthen strategic partnerships to counter the Chinese expansion in the Indo-Pacific region. Associate Professor Li Mingjiang at RSIS urged China to dial down its rhetoric for its own good. “If China is able to handle regional security issues with a less assertive tone, there is likely to be less incentive for countries in the region to band together and strengthen the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy.”