Shangri-La Dialogue, Nippon/U.S. Steel Deal, Taylor Swift Gets Her Masters
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What are the key takeaways from the Shangri-La Dialogue?
China's defense minister isn't at the Shangri-La dialogue.
But U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is.
And at the security forum, he's warning Asian military officials about China. I'm Scott Simon.
I'm Ayesha Roscoe, and this is Up First from NPR News. Japan-based Nippon Steel wanted to buy U.S. Steel.
Both the Biden and Trump administrations were opposed.
But last night at a Pennsylvania steel plant, President Trump touted a deal that he says allows a partnership between the two companies.
The details are unclear, but what do people in and around Pittsburgh think about it?
Also, Taylor Swift is back in control of her first master recordings.
So please stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your weekend.
In Singapore, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. would reorient its policies and its military to deter what he described as a looming threat from China.
He also wants China's neighbors and allies in the region to support that effort.
Hegseth spoke at the annual Security and Defense Forum, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue.
NPR's Anthony Kuhn joins us from Singapore. Anthony, thank you for being with us. Nice to join you, Scott. And how did the Secretary describe this threat from China?
Well, Secretary Hegseth was speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, which is the region's main annual security forum. A friend described it to me as Davos for men in uniform. And he said that China is intimidating and harassing its neighbors, including Taiwan. It's using gray zone tactics that are short of war but are coercive. And at the same time, he insisted that the U.S. does not seek to strangle or humiliate China. But he said that China's threat is real. Let's hear what he said.
China seeks to become a hegemonic power in Asia, no doubt. It hopes to dominate and control too many parts of this vibrant and vital region. Through its massive military buildup and growing willingness to use military force to achieve its goals, China has demonstrated that it wants to fundamentally alter the region's status quo.
Interestingly, he also complained that China has great economic leverage over its neighbors, and this complicates defense calculations for the U.S., How were his remarks received by those there? Well, you know, Scott, U.S. officials have been reassuring China for many years that they don't want to contain it or strangle it. China has never really been convinced, and I think they're even less convinced this time. China did not send its defense minister this year, perhaps because they feel the atmosphere is too hostile. The U.S. wants other nations to ramp up defense spending, and many of them are doing that, but perhaps not to the levels that Washington wants. Another country that's very concerned is South Korea, because the new alignment could see the U.S. withdraw troops from that country, basically leaving it to North Korea, and they see North Korea as the threat, not China. Is the focus on China going to affect U.S. military presence in the region? Yes, it is doing that. Already the U.S.
military is reorganizing and downsizing and spreading out some of its military units to make them harder for Chinese missiles to hit. And then it's also putting missiles within the first island chain in the western Pacific to try to control the sea lanes there. Now, Hegseth noted that the U.S. has missiles in the northern Philippines, also in Japan's southwest islands, both northeast and southeast of Taiwan.
Secretary Hegseth's remarks seem to echo President Trump's America's First policies, and I wonder if he said anything about that.
Well, there was a lot of domestic focus. He slammed previous administration's defense policies as weak, and he praised President Trump for being a great dealmaker and policymaker. Now, a lot of the admission that the U.S. is going to put its own interests first, I think, is understood by people in the region. But when they're given marching orders to fall into line with the U.S., that's where I think many governments seem to chafe at the suggestion. And Pierre's Anthony Kuhn joining us from Singapore.
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