US takes ‘big bet’ on AUKUS

The US is moving swiftly to implement the AUKUS security partnership, Joe Biden’s national security adviser says.

 

Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, says the US is moving swiftly to implement the AUKUS security partnership, describing the pact as an investment in collective security while rejecting claims of a new cold war.

Mr Sullivan said the agreement was a “big bet” on Australia grounded on a bedrock of trust, and declared the US was determined to get to work “putting this thing into place” after early difficulties with France.

“Where I sit today, the good news lies ahead,” Mr Sullivan told the Lowy Institute. “And we are going to redeem the vision our leaders laid out and it‘s going to be an incredibly positive thing for our countries.”

His comments were recorded before Chinese President Xi Jinping warned the region faced a new cold war, in a thinly veiled swipe at the tripartite agreement between Australia, the US and Britain.

“Attempts to draw ideological lines or form small circles on geopolitical grounds are bound to fail,” Mr Xi told the APEC CEOs summit.

“The Asia-Pacific region cannot and should not relapse into the confrontation and division of the Cold War era.”

US President Joe Biden. Picture: AFP

Mr Sullivan said the US had no interest in a cold war with China, and was seeking instead to “compete vigorously” with Beijing in key areas including economics and technology.

“China has a different value system,” he said. “It has different interests. And that’s part of what the ongoing competition will be about. But there’s no reason that that competition has to turn into conflict or confrontation.”

Mr Sullivan’s comments came as Scott Morrison declared Australia would not be “pushed around in this part of the world”.

“You’ve got to be strong; you’ve got to be able to stand up for it,” the Prime Minister said.

“You’ve got to be able to see things clearly. And we are. That’s why we’re investing more than the nation has invested in our defence at any time since the Second World War. We want to have a positive relationship with countries like China and trade with them. But at the same time, we’re not going to get pushed around.”

Mr Sullivan said the US was prepared to commit to the AUKUS partnership, including sharing its nuclear-submarine technology with Australia, because of the high level of trust between the two countries.

“Because it is a big bet. And the President wanted to say, not just to Australia but to the world, that if you are a strong friend and ally and partner, and you bet with us, we will bet with you,” he said.

“And we will bet with you with the most advanced, most sensitive technology we have.

“And we believe even more importantly, in our collective, combined capacity to produce greater stability, security and deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping. Picture: Xinhua

Mr Sullivan’s strong endorsement of the partnership follows earlier comments by the US President that the handling of the AUKUS agreement, including the cancellation of the previous submarine contract with France’s Naval Group, had been “clumsy” and “not done with a lot of grace”.

“I was under the impression that France had been informed long before that the deal was not coming through,” Mr Biden said on the sidelines of last month’s G20 summit in Rome.

France said Australia’s decision to dump the French-designed Attack-class submarines was a “stab in the back”, and President Emmanuel Macron branded Scott Morrison a liar at the G20 summit.

Mr Sullivan said there had been “some challenges in dealing with the rollout”, requiring intense diplomatic engagement with France.

“But now – in November – we get to look forward, we get to look at actually putting this thing into place,” Mr Sullivan said.

“We’ve put out, in our view, a very strong and meaningful and substantive plan of action with the French on a range of issues, including relating to the Indo-Pacific. And, we’re digging in on the real work of AUKUS.”

Mr Sullivan said the US was working hard on its vision for American economic engagement in the region, which would address key issues including Covid-19, supply chain surety, and climate change and digital investment.

He said Australia and other regional partners would be consulted on the plan in coming weeks. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimmondo would travel to the region in coming weeks to develop a “full, robust, attractive economic agenda” for the Indo-Pacific.

Mr Xi, who slapped $20bn in trade bans on Australian exports and froze high-level engagement with Australian ministers, said China would “forge an Asia-Pacific partnership based on mutual trust, inclusiveness and win-win co-operation”.

“We should be forward-looking, move ahead and reject practices of discrimination and exclusion of others,” the President said.

China has heavily criticised the AUKUS partnership of English-speaking countries, ¬framing it as a threat to regional stability.

Mr Xi said China would “continue to practise true multilateralism” by adhering to the WTO-centred multilateral trading system, and “take an active part in global economic governance and promote the building of an open-world economy” through its Belt and Road Initiative.

He emphasised that his country’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, saying the country was “committed to building a high-standard market system” and would continue to open up its agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

“We treat all types of market entities on an equal basis, and we are working to develop a unified, open, competitive and orderly market system,” Mr Xi said.