Less than 24 hours after US President Donald Trump was sworn into office on Monday, new secretary of state Marco Rubio met his foreign minister counterparts from America’s closest allies in the Indo-Pacific — the so-called “Quad” with Australia, India and Japan.

For all the early focus on efforts to end the Ukraine and Middle East conflicts, the Trump administration will have surprised few by focusing so early on countries key to America’s confrontation with China. Already, though, there are signs of just how different this new era may be. America’s partners and adversaries both appear to be scrambling to adapt to that new reality...

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