Senate hearing spotlights nominees to Australia, South Korea, the Philippines and Norway; questions focus on China and Manila

A senator opened a confirmation hearing for several ambassadorial nominees by calling the moment "a critical time in the world's history," saying war, famine and a pandemic are converging and urging continued U.S. engagement overseas.

The senator introduced nominees Caroline Kennedy for Australia, Philip S. Goldberg for South Korea, Miss Mary Kay Carlson for the Philippines and Mark Nathanson for Norway, and asked each to strengthen bilateral and multilateral ties. "Our partnership will remain critical in maintaining a free and open Indo Pacific," the senator said when introducing Kennedy.

The hearing turned to the Philippines after the senator said relations with that country "has been strained" under its current president and asked Carlson to explain what led to the apparent shift in Manila's posture toward China and whether that shift was welcomed by the Philippine public. Carlson replied: "We are friends, partners, allies with a 75 year history of diplomacy," and said military cooperation — including the Balikatan exercises, "shoulder to shoulder, which is just finishing up today in The Philippines" — provides a basis for optimism about the relationship going forward.

On Australia, the senator praised Australian actions including banning Huawei products and said Canberra has shown backbone on issues from COVID origins to a diplomatic Olympic boycott. He asked Kennedy how Australia could work with the United States and Quad partners to develop a comprehensive strategy to confront China. Kennedy said: "I think Australia and The United States working together, especially in the quad with our, India friends and with Japan, is a very powerful, alliance and combination," adding that multilateral partnerships can "strengthen deterrence and increase our own security as well as allowing for the continued prosperity of the region."

Pressed directly about China's global strategy, the senator asked whether China is "behaving in a malevolent and predatory way that represents a real threat" to U.S. interests. Kennedy emphasized U.S. strengths and alliances, saying in part: "I feel confident that we do have, in our values, in our economic strength, in our security partnerships, our alliances, our multilateral work, that we do have a winning strategy."

No formal votes appear in the provided transcript. The record shows nominees were questioned on the record about regional security, the durability of alliances and the role of multilateral cooperation in responding to China and North Korea.