WASHINGTON: The Republican and Democratic heads of a US congressional committee for strategic competition with China have written to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to stress their strong support for the AUKUS submarine project currently under Pentagon review.
Details of the AUKUS plan to provide Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines from the early 2030s were unveiled in 2023 under former President Joe Biden, part of efforts to counter China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific.
The Pentagon said in June it was reviewing the three-way collaboration between Australia, Britain and the United States to ensure it was aligned with President Donald Trump’s America First agenda, amid concerns about the ability of the US to meet its own submarine needs and whether Australia’s vessels would be used in support of US policy in the future.
In a letter to Hegseth they released on Tuesday, Republican Representative John Moolenaar and Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi said China’s expanded military capabilities and coercive actions against neighbours showed it was “credibly preparing to use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific.”
The congressmen, the chair and ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) respectively, said the AUKUS framework was “a key step to dramatically enhance the collective defence of the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom in the face of the CCP’s ongoing aggression”.
“AUKUS has received strong bipartisan support from Congress for a reason,” they wrote. “Alongside our colleagues, we understand the agreement promises to strengthen our national security alongside that of two of our closest allies.”
