AUKUS power projection is language US understands

The continued goodwill shown by key US congressmen to the AUKUS defence pact is welcome news as political leaders everywhere attempt to figure out what a new Trump presidency means for US engagement with the rest of the world. The message is that the US still has a heightened sense of what its strategic interests are in the Pacific, and what it needs to do to send the right message to Xi Jinping.

Anthony Albanese is confident he can get along with Donald Trump and highlights the work his government has done to build diplomatic relations with Pacific Island leaders as a positive. The Prime Minister is right that the US is working with Australia to reinforce its diplomatic standing in our region. But Mr Albanese is putting too much stock in whether or not a change in government here would make any difference.

This is particularly so with AUKUS given that it was Scott Morrison who brokered the deal in the first instance and he retains sufficient gravitas in US diplomatic circles to secure a spot in Mr Trump’s inner-circle New Year festivities where our US ambassador, former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd, could not.

It is true that relations have improved with Pacific Island leaders given the Albanese government’s determination to make climate change a priority. But this is only one part of a much bigger relationship that will not be determined by a single issue.

Mr Trump reportedly does not prioritise climate change action. But he will still get the attention of Pacific Island leaders. And Australia’s climate diplomacy has yet to show results when it comes to stopping the Chinese Communist Party’s escalating involvement in strategic areas, including the Solomon Islands, where there are now Chinese cops on the beat.

Mr Albanese is trailing his relationship with Pacific Island leaders to remind Mr Trump of where our common interests lie. That is in countering China’s projection of power in ways that challenge Australian and US interests. It is the same message Mr Morrison highlighted in December when he said: “In promoting AUKUS here in the US, we need to appreciate that its primary reason for being is to provide a deterrent against adversarial threats. The primary one of those is China. And to pretend it’s not does not aid the argument well here”.

That this is the language US politicians understand was confirmed in comments by leading Democratic and Republican congressmen that the AUKUS security pact was a model for how the US should engage with allies and that its domestic political support was growing.

The bipartisan endorsement of the landmark trilateral security agreement from the Democratic co-chair of the Congressional AUKUS Working Group, Joe Courtney, and the Republican chairman emeritus of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCaul, comes less than two weeks before the inauguration of Mr Trump ushers in a new era for America in world affairs.

Mr McCaul said the AUKUS agreement “keeps Chairman Xi up at night”, and he was confident it would continue to enjoy bipartisan support “as we work to deter CCP aggression in the Indo-Pacific”.

This is a good early sign that Australia will have no problem continuing its good working relations with the US in areas where we share common interests. This will be true whoever is in office domestically. We must not get carried away thinking Mr Trump will respect Mr Albanese’s position on climate change action or be persuaded by our softer approach to economic relations with China.

Mr Trump has shown he will always put US defence, trade and economic interests ahead of anything else.