Caroline Kennedy, the only remaining child of President John F. Kennedy, is warming as the frontrunner for the United States’ new ambassador to Australia and would likely be speedily approved by both sides of politics, given her strong views on China’s increasingly aggressive moves in the Pacific.

Former Australian and US ambassadors, as well as conservatives, said Kennedy, who was US ambassador to Japan from 2013 to 2017, was highly suited to the Australian role, given the temperature of relations with China and that the 70th anniversary of the ANZUS treaty would be marked on September 1 this year.