US congress backs AUKUS as key military deterrent to China

The leaders of the US house select committee on the CCP have delivered a strong endorsement of AUKUS ahead of testimony on the security agreement from Scott Morrison.

Former PM Scott Morrison. Picture: John Feder

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The US house select committee on the Chinese Communist Party has delivered a bipartisan message of “strong support for AUKUS” in a letter to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, ahead of testimony from Scott Morrison, who will promote the agreement as a key military deterrent against Beijing.

Invited to speak before the committee in Washington on Wednesday morning local time, the former prime minister and key architect of AUKUS told The Australian that “while the PRC’s grey zone tactics of coercion and bullying may have changed, their strategic objectives have not”.

Mr Morrison is expected to outline the campaign of Chinese coercion against Australia and imposition of trade sanctions during the period of his government, including the 14 grievances issued by Beijing in November 2020.

Scheduled to give evidence just days after the conclusion of Anthony Albanese’s six-day visit to China, Mr Morrison noted that, “just because the PRC is seeking to smile rather than threaten, (we) should not weaken our resolve to resist and play the strongest possible role to ensure a strong ­deterrent.”

In the letter to Mr Hegseth signed by committee chair John Moolenaar and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, the AUKUS partnership is promoted as being “crucial – now more than ever” in helping the US devise a “shield of deterrence” with its ­allies and partners.

Coming at a critical time as the Pentagon conducts a comprehensive review into the trilateral sec­urity partnership between Aus­tralia, the US and Britain, the bipartisan letter to Mr Hegseth noted that AUKUS had “received strong bipartisan support from congress for a reason”.

Under the AUKUS agreement, the US is scheduled to sell Canberra three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines starting from the early 2030s, but concerns are mounting that America is not producing enough boats each year to meet its own needs as well as those of Australia.

US Undersecretary of Defence for Policy, Elbridge Colby, has also been pushing Australia as well as Japan on commitments in relation to a potential war with China over Taiwan, with fears this issue could bleed into the findings of the AUKUS review.

Mr Moolenaar, a Republican from Michigan, and Mr Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat from Illinois, promoted AUKUS as a vital deterrent against China. “Alongside our colleagues, we understand the (AUKUS) agreement promises to strengthen our nat­ional security alongside that of two of our closest allies,” they said.

“We are stronger together under the AUKUS framework. With an ‘all hands on deck’ approach, appropriate resourcing, and relentless problem-solving, we can deliver on the mission of the agreement, strengthen our partnerships, and enhance our shared security interests.”

Mr Morrison told The Australian that “the network of US alliances in the Indo-Pacific are essential to deterring the PRC’s assertions in our region.

“The US is keen to strengthen the effectiveness of these alliances by seeking greater investment from allies in the respective defence capabilities. AUKUS is critical to this alliance network, which is why the PRC has always been strongly opposed to it.”

The letter to Mr Hegseth sounded the alarm on China’s “rapid modernisation of its nuclear, conventional, cyber and space capabilities” as a grave concern for the US.

It argued that Beijing was credibly preparing to use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific and noted the conduct by the PLA Navy of “live-fire exercises in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand … This attempt to project power as far south as New Zealand’s front door highlights the importance of AUKUS in cementing ties to longstanding allies like Australia, as well as advancing vital undersea capabilities that will be central to deterrence.”

On Tuesday, a paper released by the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies warned that many of the consequences of US policy decisions were playing into China’s hands in the Pacific.

Shifting Tides, penned by CSIS Australia chair Charles Edel along with Kathryn Paik and John Augé, says “cuts to the US Agency for International Development, pausing of US foreign assistance, enacting tariffs on small and vulnerable island economies, and deprioritising climate change – the top priority for the region – have had a decidedly negative impact”.

“In a region that has quietly become a stage for great power competition, this perception of US disinterest not only opens new entry points for Beijing’s influence but puts wind in the sails of a new narrative: that it is China, not the US, that is the committed partner and protector of global rules and norms,” they write.

The growing focus on Beijing comes as Mr Albanese faces scrutiny in Washington for his recent visit to China where he met for a fourth time with Chinese President Xi Jinping despite not yet having had a face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump.

Steve Yates, senior research fellow for China and National Security Policy at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, told The Australian that “the context and tone of the Prime Minister’s China visit do not bode well for Australia or our alliance”.

“On July 5, nearly coincident with America’s Independence Day, the Prime Minister declared he would seek greater strategic independence from the US. Now, with soft gloves with regard to China’s authoritarian governance and territorial aggression, he speaks soothingly about enhanced relations with China that inevitably increase dependence,” he said. “Better that he gets back to the tremendous good to be done together with the US along with true responsible stakeholders in the Indo-Pacific.”

Gordon G. Chang, a vocal critic of the CCP and leading China hawk, told The Australian the “US has endured leftist prime ministers in Canberra, but right now relations with China are getting especially tense. So people are in general looking at who is with us and who is with China.”

“Australia could end up on the wrong side of that divide,” he said. “I don’t know what Albanese is trying to do, but it looks and smells a little bit like appeasement.

“There will eventually be concern about this, as the Trump administration starts paying attention in Asia ... Australia can trade with China and China is of course Australia’s largest trading partner. But Australia can redirect its trade elsewhere.

“It can’t find anybody else to protect Australia if the worst should happen.”