Joe Biden's top national security advisor has described the AUKUS agreement as a "big bet" on Australia, but says the US is not seeking another Cold War with China.
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US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has also declined to back Australia's handling of the agreement, which enraged France and sparked a deterioration in bilateral relations.
Addressing the Lowy Institute on Thursday evening, Mr Sullivan insisted the US was "not going anywhere" in the Indo-Pacific, and would have to "learn to deal with the reality" of an increasingly powerful Beijing.
"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.
"We will bet with you with the most advanced most sensitive technology we have, because we trust you [and] we believe in you."
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Former Prime Minister Paul Keating on Wednesday criticised the alliance, arguing China would surpass the US as a military might in the Indo-Pacific over the coming decades.
But Mr Sullivan said the deal - along with the US's permanent military presence in South Korea and Japan - showed it would continue to be a force in the region.
"The United States is a Pacific nation, has been a Pacific nation, and will always be a Pacific nation," he said.
"We have been a resident power in the Indo-Pacific for decades. It is core to our being as a geopolitical actor. It is fundamental to our identity."
Mr Sullivan said the US was not seeking another Cold War and accepted "effective and healthy" competition with Beijing.
"[China] is not going anywhere, and the United States is not going anywhere ... so we're going to have to learn how to deal with that reality," he said.
The US's withdrawal from Afghanistan came with "difficulty [and] trauma" but was part of a strategy to pivot its resources to the Indo-Pacific, Mr Sullivan said.
'Some challenges'
France was infuriated by September's AUKUS announcement, claiming it was blindsided by the scuppering of Australia's submarine deal with the French Naval Group.
French President Emmanuel Macron publicly accused Mr Morrison of lying to him, sparking a war of words between the two leaders which saw a private text from the French President leaked to Australian media.
In what was widely interpreted as a rebuke to Mr Morrison, Mr Biden said the announcement had been clumsily handled and claimed he was surprised the French had not been informed.
Mr Sullivan conceded there were "some challenges" in the way the deal was made public, but did not explicitly criticise Australia.
"There's no profit in revisiting how we got to where we are," he said.
"Going back through all the ins and outs of this will be interesting for the historians to do at some point.
"But I've got to keep my eyes firmly fixed on the present and future ... the good times lie ahead."
Washington has taken a more conciliatory approach to France, with Vice President Kamala Harris attempting to repair damage by jetting to Paris this week.
Mr Macron said meetings the meeting with Ms Harris, and a face-to-face with Mr Biden in Rome this month, had "paved the way for the coming weeks, months and, I have to say, years".
"What can any partner of Australia now think? Is this the value of Australia's signature and commitment?" he asked the National Press Club last week.
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