This is the best summary I could come up with:

But the assistant secretary of state, Daniel Kritenbrink, played down broader concerns about whether a future US president would approve or block the planned sale of at least three Virginia class submarines to Australia in the 2030s.

During a press conference at the US embassy, Kritenbrink was questioned about past statements by US officials, including Aukus architect Kurt Campbell, who said last year: “When submarines are provided from the United States to Australia, it’s not like they’re lost – they will just be deployed by the closest possible allied force.”

Campbell, a former White House official who is now the deputy US secretary of state, said last month the submarines had “enormous implications in a variety of scenarios, including in cross-strait circumstances” – a reference to Taiwan.

Asked to reconcile those statements with the Australian government’s insistence that Canberra would have full control of the submarines and had not made any military pre-commitment to the US, Kritenbrink said Aukus was “an extraordinary achievement” that would help deter coercion.

Aukus critics – including former prime ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Paul Keating – have long contended Australia’s sovereignty would be eroded because of long-term reliance on the US for the nuclear propulsion technology.

The defence minister, Richard Marles, said last year a war between the US and China over the future of Taiwan would be “so grave” that Australia could not be “passive bystanders”, but he denied any pre-commitment to join such a conflict.

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