US president Joe Biden warned on AUKUS go-slow against China’s growing Indo-Pacific presence

US President Joe Biden has been called on to act quickly against the bureaucratic burden threatening the implementation of AUKUS pillar two, cautioned there is “no time to wait” due to the threat of China’s growing presence in the Indo-Pacific. Senior Republican figures Michael McCaul and Mike Rogers wrote to Mr Biden, raising concerns over the White House’s go-slow over the licence-free defence trade provision between the US, UK and Australia. The contract allows goods, technology and services to be transferred between the three partner countries without permit requirements; however, Mr McCaul and Mr Rogers took issue with the “lengthy excluded technologies list (ETL)” that they said “jeopardises the viability of pillar two”. They said the list would lead to unnecessary processing delays that could threaten the rollout of the second pillar, which focuses on advanced technologies like hypersonic missiles and quantum technologies. “There is no time to wait. Chairman Xi (Jinping) and the CCP pose a grave and imminent threat to the stability of the Indo-Pacific. Half-measures pose an unacceptable risk to our national security,” the letter warned. However, Mr McCaul and Mr Rogers stressed the ETL was “not in the spirit of the agreement to promote cutting edge and innovative technology essential for enhancing the Indo-Pacific security environment”. The letter also quoted evidence from Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, who warned that the ETL would lead to “a very cumbersome process, long reviews, overruns in terms of times and delivery”. “We urge you and your senior leaders to continue to review items included on the ETL and remove as many as possible that do not warrant inclusion in order to unleash AUKUS’ full potential,” he said. While AUKUS pillar one focused on establishing a nuclear submarine fleet between the partner countries, pillar two focuses on developing advanced technologies and boosting operational capacity between Australia, the UK and the US. A defence spokesperson said Australia continues to welcome “ongoing bipartisan congressional interest in removing barriers to create a seamless trilateral defence industrial base”. “Australia is working closely with the UK and the US to ensure our respective national exemptions on defence export controls maximise licence-free trade among and between the AUKUS partners,” they said.