Washington | Time is running out in the Indo-Pacific to strengthen Western alliances and reinforce military legacies, particularly between Australia and the United States, according to a top White House official.

Kurt Campbell, the “Asia tsar” who sat with President Joe Biden during the four-hour virtual meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in November, said he was looking to Australia for leadership, and admitted that the US had probably not done enough in what is a strategic region for both countries.