CNA Correspondent - The Shangri-La Dialogue: Speed dating for defence officials
Tensions, absences and quiet chats at Asia's premier security summit. The US sent Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth but China left its defence minister at home for this year's summit.
CNA's Olivia Siong and Leong Wai Kit tell Arnold Gay whether Dong Jun's absence affected Beijing's messaging and why the summit is similar to speed dating, with defence officials meeting and mingling to seal alliances and agreements.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
27 minutes ago
- CNA
US social media vetting for visas: What should prospective students do?
SINGAPORE: The United States' move to tighten social media screening for visas has left some foreign students perplexed and contemplating deleting their online accounts. Experts meanwhile have highlighted the challenges in scrubbing digital footprints, as well as the potential chilling effect of the new requirements. President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday (Jun 18) ordered the resumption of scheduling appointments for international student visas after nearly a month-long pause. But all applicants will now be required to make their social media accounts public for review. In an internal state department cable dated Jun 18, US consular officers were directed to conduct "comprehensive and thorough vetting" of all student and exchange visitor applicants to identify those who "bear hostile attitudes toward our citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles". New applicants who refuse to unlock their social media accounts and allow them to be reviewed may be rejected. The Trump administration on May 27 first ordered its missions abroad to stop scheduling new interviews for student and exchange visitor visa applicants as it prepared to expand social media vetting of foreign students. "HOPING THEY DON'T FIND IT" The move has left prospective students and those renewing their visas in a state of panic, with some turning online to try and clarify the new rules. One student wrote on social media platform Reddit that they were "not sure how to go about" the tightened vetting. The Swedish national was in the process of renewing their F-1 visa, which allows foreigners to enter the US as a full-time student at an accredited educational institution. The student said they had always only listed their Facebook account on the online nonimmigrant visa application form, known as DS-160; but also has accounts on Instagram and TikTok where they repost "political stuff". While the posts have since been removed, the student wondered if the best option may be to deactivate those accounts and indicate that they only used Facebook. Commenting on the discussion, another student said they deactivated all unused social media accounts such as those on Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter. "I'm planning on deactivating my main Instagram account where I do repost political stuff too and it's private (I don't want to make it public), but I don't know if this is good advice," the Redditor wrote. Both students were also unclear if government officials would be able to find accounts that did not have their real names. "We don't know what tools they'll be using, it's all unclear now. I'm hoping they don't find it," one of them wrote. WHAT SHOULD STUDENTS DO? The US was likely looking for posts or comments that were critical of the country's policies and of President Trump in particular, as well as those that support causes the US is against such as the diversity, equity and inclusion or DEI programmes that have come under attack, said Dr Tracy Loh, senior lecturer of communication management at the Singapore Management University (SMU). She recommended avoiding posting or commenting on such issues or deleting such posts, noting that "safe" content would those that were personal in nature such as birthday celebrations and family gatherings. "Immigration officers will most likely randomly scroll through social media accounts to check. I doubt that they would have the time or expertise to recover deleted posts or to investigate the accounts in great detail," said Dr Loh, who teaches at the Lee Kong Chian School of Business. But if the US government does check thoroughly, it would be unlikely for anyone to hide their digital footprint entirely, said associate professor Brian Lee Chin Hin from the School of Humanities and Behavioural Sciences at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS). There may be screenshots or reposts by others and the US authorities may have already captured the posts that they deem questionable, said the head of the university's communication programme, adding that there are tools to check archived versions of posts. Last-minute mass deletion may also look like an attempt to hide dubious past activities. "One strategy is to focus on deleting the most sensitive content rather than trying to erase all posts, or making an account private all of a sudden," Assoc Prof Lee said. He added that in his opinion, back-up mechanisms by various social media platforms and web archives would make it "unlikely" to wipe off all the posts entirely from the internet. Both experts also cautioned against having undisclosed accounts. "If you hide, lie or have fake accounts and get found out, such actions will most probably be held against you," said SMU's Dr Loh. Those who do not have any form of social media presence may be required to justify why, and creating a new account or profile last minute would look too "staged", said Assoc Prof Lee. Students who come under this group could thus also be "negatively" affected besides those who actively post their views that may be deemed problematic to the US authorities. On the implications of the vetting process, Dr Loh said this creates a "chilling effect" and constitutes censorship. SUSS' Assoc Prof Lee, meanwhile, called the situation "unfortunate".
CNA
3 hours ago
- CNA
US court lets Trump retain control of California National Guard for now
WASHINGTON: A US appeals court let Donald Trump on Thursday (Jun 19) retain control over California's National Guard while the state's Democratic governor proceeds with a lawsuit challenging the legality of the Republican president's use of the troops to quell protests and unrest in Los Angeles. A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals extended a pause it placed on US District Judge Charles Breyer's Jun 12 ruling that Trump had called the National Guard into federal service unlawfully. Breyer's ruling was issued in a lawsuit against Trump's action brought by Governor Gavin Newsom. Breyer ruled that Trump violated the US law governing a president's ability to take control of a state's National Guard by failing to coordinate with the governor, and also found that the conditions set out under the statute to allow this move, such as a rebellion against federal authority, did not exist. Breyer ordered Trump to return control of California's National Guard to Newsom. Hours after Breyer acted, the 9th Circuit panel put the judge's move on hold temporarily. Amid protests and turmoil in Los Angeles over Trump's immigration raids, the president on Jun 7 took control of California's National Guard and deployed 4,000 troops against the wishes of Newsom. Trump also ordered 700 US Marines to the city after sending in the National Guard. Breyer has not yet ruled on the legality of the Marine Corps mobilisation. At a court hearing on Tuesday on whether to extend the pause on Breyer's decision, members of the 9th Circuit panel questioned lawyers for California and the Trump administration on what role, if any, courts should have in reviewing Trump's authority to deploy the troops. The law sets out three conditions under which a president can federalise state National Guard forces, including an invasion, a "rebellion or danger of a rebellion" against the government or a situation in which the US government is unable with regular forces to execute the country's laws. The Justice Department has said that once the president determines that an emergency that warrants the use of the National Guard exists, no court or state governor can review that decision. Trump's decision to send troops into Los Angeles prompted a national debate about the use of the military on US soil and inflamed political tensions in the second most-populous US city. The protests in Los Angeles lasted for more than a week, but subsequently ebbed, leading Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass to lift a curfew she had imposed. California argued in its Jun 9 lawsuit that Trump's deployment of the National Guard and the Marines violated the state's sovereignty and US laws that forbid federal troops from participating in civilian law enforcement. The lawsuit stated the situation in Los Angeles was nothing like a "rebellion". The protests involved sporadic acts of violence that state and local law enforcement were capable of handling without military involvement, according to the lawsuit. The Trump administration has denied that troops are engaging in law enforcement, saying that they are instead protecting federal buildings and personnel, including US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
CNA
4 hours ago
- CNA
Rights abuses continue in North Korea a decade after probe, says UN investigator
SEOUL: A decade after a landmark UN report concluded North Korea committed crimes against humanity, a UN official investigating rights in the isolated state told Reuters many abuses continue, exacerbated by COVID-era controls that have yet to be lifted. James Heenan, who represents the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Seoul, said he is still surprised by the continued prevalence of executions, forced labour and reports of starvation in the authoritarian country. Later this year Heenan's team will release a follow-up report to the 2014 findings by the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which said the government had committed "systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations" that constituted crimes against humanity. DPRK is North Korea's official name. While the conclusions of this year's report are still being finalised, Heenan told Reuters in an interview that the last 10 years have seen mixed results, with North Korea's government engaging more with some international institutions, but doubling down on control at home. "The post-COVID period for DPRK means a period of much greater government control over people's lives and restrictions on their freedoms," he said in the interview. North Korea's embassy in London did not answer phone calls seeking comment. The government has in the past denied abuses and accused the UN and foreign countries of trying to use human rights as a political weapon to attack North Korea. A Reuters investigation in 2023 found leader Kim Jong Un had spent much of the COVID pandemic building a massive string of walls and fences along the previously porous border with China, and later built fences around the capital of Pyongyang. A report this week by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said the COVID pandemic raged in North Korea for more than two years before the regime admitted in May 2022 that the virus had permeated its borders, and that the regime bungled the response in a way that violated freedoms and left most citizens to fend for themselves. On Wednesday SI Analytics, a Seoul-based satellite imagery firm, released a report noting North Korea is renovating a key prison camp near the border with China, possibly in response to international criticism, while simultaneously strengthening physical control over prisoners under the pretence of facility improvement. Heenan said his team has talked to more than 300 North Koreans who fled their country in recent years, and many expressed despair. "Sometimes we hear people saying they sort of hope a war breaks out, because that might change things," he said. A number of those interviewees will speak publicly for the first time next week as part of an effort to put a human face on the UN findings. "It's a rare opportunity to hear from people publicly what they want to say about what's happening in the DPRK," Heenan said. He expressed concern about funding cuts for international aid and UN programmes around the world, which is pressuring human rights work and threatening support for North Korean refugees. While human rights has traditionally been a politically volatile subject not only for Pyongyang but for foreign governments trying to engage with the nuclear-armed North, Heenan said the issues like prison camps need to be part of any engagement on a political settlement.
