TOKYO — Security deals are important, but in Asia, money talks.

Australia, India Japan, and the United States concluded their second Quad Leaders’ Summit in Tokyo on Tuesday. This was after President Joe Biden’s weekend visit to South Korea.

These five days have seen the Quad and Asian nations make it very clear to each other that, while maritime defense was important, security needs to be able and willingly respond economically to Asian countries.

In informal security, the Quad is a grouping of four large democracies. It was created in response to China’s growing strength in Indo-Pacific. As CNBC reported before the group’s first Leaders’ Summit last SeptemberThe Quad is looking to expand into tech, trade and the environment, as well as pandemic response.

The Biden administration has tried to demonstrate that economic priorities can be addressed within the Quad, between countries one-on-one, or as part of new, multilateral arrangements — though the United States hasn’t gone as far as all of its Asian partners would like.

Jonathan Grady (founder principal at forecasting company The Canary Group) stated that the focus now is on creating overlapping multilateral relations that work in meshwork. While the actors involved may be often the same we observe them participate in many groups, from security to economic. It is a strength to have many people.

New South Korean President Yoon Seok-youl showed Biden around a SamsungThe semiconductor facility and explained immediately afterwards that security in South Korea is more than the military.

Yoon stated, in a translated version of his comments, “Mr. president, today, we live in an era of economic safety, where security is economy and vice versa.”

From South Korea’s perspective — and from the perspective of much of Asia — the concept of defense and economic stability are intertwined, said Ali Wyne, a senior analyst with Eurasia Group’s Global Macro practice.

Wyne explained that “President Yoon”‘s statement reflects the pain of the past two-and-a half years. He said the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the coronavirus pandemic were examples of how disruptions in the supply and distribution of vital medicines and crude oil can damage the global economy. The statement also affirms America’s need to improve its economic competivity in the region.

To address this shortfall, Monday was the United States’s anniversary and Tuesday were those of 12 Asian nations. announced the Indo-Pacific Economic FrameworkIPEF (or the International Partnership for Economic Freedom), an agreement that lays the foundations of rules regarding the digital economy in the region.

The IPEF does not include security components and is therefore not considered a trade arrangement. Importantly, the agreement doesn’t provide access to U.S. markets at a higher level for countries that are part of the IPEF, such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, and Philippines.

That could pose a problem in the long-term. Arsjad Rasjid of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry was asked earlier this month by CNBC what the IPEF wanted the most. He stated, “Number 1 is access to U.S. markets.”

Rasjid explained that what we really want is to work together to improve trade and economic growth. We see that we have more to do together. This is a great sign. This is a positive sign. It’s even more important.”

Biden is threading a needle between trying to raise America’s relevance in Asia on the one hand, and trying to avoid upsetting U.S. voters who — both left and right — are averse to trade deals.

Washington’s official statements indicate that this is the case. Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor to President Biden said Monday that the IPEF was “part of his commitment to putting American workers and families at the heart of our economic policy and strengthening our ties and partnerships for the goal of greater shared prosperity.”

Additional countries included in the IPEF are Quad members Australia and India as well as Brunei and Indonesia as well as New Zealand, Brunei and Brunei and the Philippines.

Biden generated the biggest headlines of the summit — perhaps inadvertently — when he said that the United States would be willing to defend Taiwan militarilyChina should attack Taiwan.

Biden responded, “Yes,” when asked by a reporter whether the United States, unlike its approach towards Ukraine, would be open to using its military to assist Taiwan.

That’s our commitment. We are not — look, here’s the situation. We are in agreement with the One China Policy. The president stated that we had signed it along with all of the associated agreements. The idea that it could be taken with force is ridiculous. It will result in dislocation of the whole region and another act similar to that which was done in Ukraine.

Taiwan is a democratic self-governing country, however Beijing views the island as a part of China. According to the United States, there is only one China. This is the unofficial American policy, also known as strategic ambiguity. It means that the U.S. does not say one way about how it would protect Taiwan.

Although Biden’s statements seemed to end a lot the confusion, U.S. officials stated behind Biden that their official policy hadn’t changed. U.S. Defense secretary Lloyd Austin attempted to clarify that Biden had “reiterated this policy and our commitment peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.” He also spoke out about our support for Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act.

Beijing didn’t want it.

China’s Foreign Ministry declared that no one should underestimate China’s determination and firm will to protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity. They also said they would not be opposed by the estimated 1.4 billion Chinese citizens.