Pentagon nominee John Noh hints at Aukus changes, says Taiwan should ‘pay its way’

US pick for Indo-Pacific security role tells senators that he strongly supports President Donald Trump’s ‘America first’ foreign policy

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Australia has agreed to buy at least three Virginia-class submarines from the US under the Aukus agreement, which is currently under review in Washington. Photo: AFP

Published: 4:59pm, 8 Oct 2025Updated: 10:09am, 9 Oct 2025

The Aukus defence technology-sharing pact between the US, Britain and Australia could be made more “sustainable”, according to the Trump administration’s pick for assistant defence secretary for Indo-Pacific security affairs.

At his confirmation hearing on Tuesday, John Noh, currently deputy assistant defence secretary for East Asia, said he also “strongly” believed that Taiwan needed to “do its part and pay” by spending more on defence against a possible attack from Beijing.

Noh told members of the US Senate Armed Services Committee that there could be opportunities for Washington, London and Canberra to modify Pillar 1 of the Aukus arrangement before the current review’s completion, expected this autumn.

“The department is conducting a review of Aukus to make sure it is fully aligned with President [Donald] Trump’s ‘America first’ foreign policy … It is a brass-tack, common-sense look at the realities facing Aukus, including the state of our submarine industrial base,” he said, referring to the US Department of Defence.

“There are things that I believe are common-sense things that we can do to strengthen Aukus, to strengthen Pillar 1 to ensure that it is more sustainable.”

Beijing describes Aukus as a threat to regional stability and the pact is widely seen as a way to contain China’s growing naval power.

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