SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
Washington: Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state has given the strongest indication yet that the new US administration will continue to back the AUKUS submarine pact, describing it as a blueprint for other partnerships to take on China.
In comments that will reassure Australia and the UK about the defence agreement’s future, Florida senator Marco Rubio told a Senate confirmation hearing that, if he is given the go-ahead to be Trump’s top diplomat, the deal is “something that I think you’re going to find very strong support for in this administration”.
Donald Trump at a rally in November with Marco Rubio, who has been nominated as secretary of state.Credit: AP
“I think it’s almost a blueprint, in many ways, of how we can create consortium-like partnerships with nation states that are allied to us to confront some of these global challenges, be it in the defence realm, in the technology realm, in the critical minerals realm,” said Rubio, a China hawk who ran for the Republican nomination against Trump in 2016.
“It’s one example of how we can leverage the power of these partnerships with allies … to reach outcomes and objectives, such as creating a geopolitical and strategic balance in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.”
AUKUS was unveiled by Australia, the UK and US in 2021 as part of a broader strategy to counter China’s economic and military advances in the Indo-Pacific.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with US President Joe Biden in San Diego in March 2023 for the joint AUKUS announcement with his US and UK counterparts.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Trump has not yet spoken about the pact publicly, but former prime minister Scott Morrison says the president-elect gave his “warm” support to the deal during a private meeting between the pair at Trump Tower in New York in May.
His controversial nominee for secretary of defence, Pete Hegseth, also told his confirmation hearing that, if he is appointed to run the Pentagon, working with allies to safeguard the Info-Pacific would be one of his key priorities.
Hegseth also name-checked AUKUS and Australia – along with allies such as Japan and South Korea – while being grilled by Democrat senator Tammy Duckworth about which countries were members of ASEAN, the Association of South East Asian Nations.
“None of those three countries are in ASEAN,” responded Duckworth. “I suggest you do a little homework.”
Rubio’s comments, however, are the strongest sign of support yet from a senior member of the incoming Trump administration, as he is likely to receive support from both Republicans and Democrats to become the next Secretary of State.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Rubio’s comments were emblematic of the “very broad support for AUKUS across the Congress.”
“I have no doubt there will be support for AUKUS by the incoming administration because that is something that is in the interests of both of our nations but also, importantly, in the interests of the national community,” he said.
Australia’s ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, also welcomed the development, and said he was “looking forward to working with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the incoming Trump administration across the full range of our foreign policy and national security challenges”.
Confirmation hearings on Thursday (AEDT) also included that of Trump’s pick for attorney-general, Pam Bondi, a former attorney-general for Florida and one of Trump’s White House lawyers during his first impeachment trial.
Pam Bondi.Credit: AP
Bondi, who along with Rubio is one of the more orthodox of Trump’s cabinet picks for his second administration, refused multiple times during the hearing to acknowledge that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
“President Biden is the president of the United States. He was duly sworn in, and he is the president,” she said. Asked if she accepted that Biden received more votes than Trump in 2020, she said she accepted the results, but saw “many things” in Pennsylvania that made her concerned about the legitimacy of the election.
Bondi also dodged several questions about whether she would operate independently of the White House and refuse to let the Department of Justice investigate Trump’s political enemies if asked.
“Two-thirds of Americans have lost faith in the Department of Justice,” she said, adding that she would uphold the law.
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