Australia has 'confidence' AUKUS deal survives under Trump

Australia's top diplomat said Thursday she had a "great deal of confidence" that Donald Trump's reelection will not sink a defence pact designed to underpin her country's security.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong insisted the multi-billion-dollar AUKUS pact had bipartisan support and that both countries were eager to see a "stable" and "peaceful" Asia-Pacific region.

The 2021 pact binds the United States, Britain and Australia, facilitating the transfer of sensitive nuclear, missile and other defence technology.

"We've been engaging with both sides of politics in the US for a very long time about this project," Wong told Australian media.

"We're very pleased to see both the progress we've made with the support from Republicans and Democrats alike."

Under the deal, Australia will acquire a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines and long-range missiles, a response to Chinese military ambitions in the Pacific region.

Some fear Trump could jettison or try to rewrite the pact, returning to his "America first" style of foreign policy.

China's foreign minister Wang Yi warned in a visit to Australia in April that AUKUS raised "serious nuclear proliferation risks", claiming it ran counter to a South Pacific treaty banning nuclear weapons in the region.