That's even more cryptic than Pepe! His release didn't save face for the US, it sort of saved face for the Oz govt. that was under increasing pressure from public opinion. But it was a cynical geopolitical play. It "saved AUKUS" in that the condition imposed on the Oz govt. for his release was new US controlled submarine bases in Oz, designed to "contain China". At least, I think that is what Escobar is getting at.
This last year interview with Bob Carr seems to be pointing in the same direction
Phillip Adams: I’m glad you raised AUKUS. Because in this context, Julian looks like a very, very small chess piece.
Bob Carr: In this context, it’s worth less than 5 minutes of the President’s time. Here you’ve got an American ally that makes itself a nuclear target by hosting several American communication facilities. We’ve committed ourselves it seems implicitly, if this is the real meaning of AUKUS, to entering war against China on day 1 of any conflict. We better pray, pray, fervently to the goddess of fortune that that conflict, that war does not come about. It would be a disaster for us, we’d be a surrogate target. In that context, if we haven’t got the confident character that enables us to say to the Yanks, ‘You’ve got to trust our judgement on this. You must, you must drop this’.
Then, what confidence are we going to have in talking to the Americans should a conflict with China come about?