Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan’s comments came amid a wave of controversy over the Chinese firm, which has been hit by allegations of espionage and faces a US ban.

“The integration of civilian businesses with the military is too close. China has national policies and laws where data is required to be shared,” Shanahan told a defence and security conference in Singapore.

“When I look at that situation, it’s too much risk… You can’t trust those networks are going to be protected.”

The US Commerce Department last month placed Huawei on an “entity list” on grounds of national security, a move that curbs its access to US-made components it needs for its equipment. A 90-day reprieve was later issued.

A number of countries have also blocked Huawei from working on their mobile networks and companies have stepped back from the firm following the US ban, citing legal requirements.

Concerns about Huawei have escalated as the company has risen to become the world leader in telecom networking equipment and one of the top smartphone manufacturers alongside Samsung and Apple.

The US has long voiced suspicions that Huawei is controlled by the Chinese government and thus a global security threat — charges strongly denied by the firm and Beijing.

Founder Ren Zhengfei is a former soldier in China’s People’s Liberation Army.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting, the third and final Iran-focused summit in the holy city of Mecca this week, denounced controversial US moves to transfer its embassy to Jerusalem and recognise Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

The summit of the 57-member bloc, marked by the notable absence of Iranian and Turkish leaders, called for a “boycott” of countries that have opened diplomatic missions in the city.

Trump broke with decades of bipartisan policy to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December 2017.

The OIC’s statement comes as Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner prepares to roll out economic aspects of his long-awaited Middle East peace plan at a conference in Bahrain later this month.

The plan, which has been heavily talked up by Trump and dubbed his “deal of the century”, has already been rejected by the Palestinians, who say the president’s policies have shown him to be overwhelmingly biased in favour of Israel.

The Palestinians see the eastern part of the disputed city as the capital of their future state.

Kushner, who was in Jerusalem on Friday on the latest leg of a regional tour to sell the plan, had looked to an alliance with Saudi Arabia against Iran as a way to gain Arab support.

But Saudi King Salman told leaders of the OIC countries gathered at the summit: “The Palestinian cause is the cornerstone of the works of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and is the focus of our attention until the brotherly Palestinian people get all their legitimate rights.

“We reaffirm our unequivocal rejection of any measures that would prejudice the historical and legal status of Quds (Jerusalem).”

‘Aggressive threats’

The OIC also backed Saudi Arabia in escalating tensions with Iran, as King Salman warned that “terrorist” attacks in the Gulf region could imperil global energy supplies.

The remark came after sabotage attacks damaged four vessels, two of them Saudi oil tankers, off the UAE and twin Yemeni rebel drone attacks shut down a key Saudi oil pipeline.

“We confirm that terrorist actions not only target the kingdom and the Gulf region, but also target the safety of navigation and world oil supplies,” the king told Muslim leaders.

Tehran has strongly denied involvement in any of the incidents.

In a tweet just before the start of the summit, the king vowed to confront “aggressive threats and subversive activities”.

“Undermining the security of the kingdom effectively undermines the security of the Arab and Islamic world,” said OIC Secretary General Yousef bin Ahmed al-Othaimeen, voicing solidarity that was shared by other members.

In back-to-back summits on Friday, Gulf and Arab allies similarly threw their support behind Saudi Arabia, which drew accusations from Iran of “sowing division”.

The summits came after Trump’s hawkish National Security Advisor John Bolton said Wednesday that Iranian naval mines were “almost certainly” responsible for the damage to the four ships off the United Arab Emirates on May 12.

The findings of a five-nation inquiry into what happened have yet to be released.

Tehran dismissed Bolton’s accusation as “laughable” and accused him of pursuing “evil desires for chaos in the region”.

– Erdogan absent –

Regional tensions have risen sharply since US the Trump administration reimposed crippling unilateral sanctions against Iran, after he abandoned a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between major powers and Iran in May last year.

But Trump has appeared to soften his tone towards Tehran, saying that his government does not seek “regime change”.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was notably absent from the key OIC summit, an AFP photographer said.

A regional heavyweight, Turkey — which maintains close ties with Iran — was instead represented by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani was also not present but sent a representative to the talks, an AFP reporter said.

Erdogan’s visit would have been his first to the kingdom since the brutal murder last October of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which tarnished the international reputation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Washington and Beijing have been vying for influence in the region, which hosts potential flashpoints such as the South China Sea, the Korean Peninsula and the Taiwan Strait.

Ties between the two powers are once again taking centre stage at the weekend Singapore conference known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, which gathers defence ministers and top military officials from around the world.

While the forum is purely on security, the discussions are also being held against a backdrop of Sino-US trade tensions and high-tech rivalry.

“China can and should have a cooperative relationship with the rest of the region … But behaviour that erodes other nations’ sovereignty and sows distrust of China’s intentions must end,” acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan told the forum.

“Until it does, we stand against a myopic, narrow, and parochial vision of the future, and we stand for the free and open order that has benefitted us all, including China.”

Washington has been pushing back against Beijing’s aggressive militarisation of the South China Sea, where China rejects the conflicting territorial claims of Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Beijing is also regularly angered by US warships transiting through the Taiwan Strait, which it considers part of its territorial waters.

Without naming any country, Shanahan referred to nations using a “toolkit of coercion” to destabilise the region, including “deploying advanced weapons systems to militarise disputed areas” and “promoting state-sponsored theft of other nations’ military and civilian technology”.

For the first time since 2011, China has sent its defence minister, General Wei Fenghe, to the Singapore gathering. Wei is scheduled to speak on Sunday during which he is expected to respond to Shanahan’s remarks.

– ‘Indo-Pacific is our priority’ –

Shanahan said the United States was investing heavily in new military technology to combat fresh threats and maintain its superiority and capability to defend its Asian allies.

He said North Korea “remains an extraordinary threat and requires continued vigilance” and stressed Washington would continue to meet its defence obligations to Taiwan, which China sees as part of its territory to be reunified.

“The Indo-Pacific is our priority theatre. We are where we belong. We are investing in the region,” he added.

Over the next five years, the Pentagon would invest “signicantly” in programmes needed to ensuring regional stability, he said.

“When we talk about preparedness, we mean having the right capabilities in the right places to respond to crises, and to compete with and deter high-end adversaries,” the Pentagon chief said.

While the United States does not seek conflict, it knows that having the capability to win wars is the best deterrence.

“We want to ensure no adversary believes it can successfully achieve political objectives through military force,” he said.

He said the Pentagon has requested $104 billion globally — its most ever — for research and development in the next fiscal year and $125 billion in operational readiness.

On Friday, Beijing warned that the US should not underestimate China’s military during a meeting between Shanahan and Wei on the sidelines of the conference.

Chinese defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian said both had “reached some consensus” on issues of common concern, adding that Wei “particularly emphasised the Taiwan issue”.

China sees Taiwan as part of its territory to be reunified, despite the two sides having been ruled separately since the end of a civil war on the mainland in 1949.

“He (Defence Minister Wei) pointed out that the US has recently had a series of negative words and actions on this issue”, Wu said, adding that Beijing was “firmly opposed” to this.

“On the issue of safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity, the US should not underestimate the determination, will and ability of the Chinese military.”

The gunman, a longtime public utilities employee, was also killed after trading fire with responding officers, police chief James Cervera told a news conference.

The shooting happened just after 4 pm (2000 GMT), when the gunman entered one of the buildings at the Virginia Beach municipal complex and “immediately began to indiscriminately fire on all of the victims,” Cervera said.

The wounded included a police officer, who was saved by his bulletproof vest.

The building where the shooting took place in Virginia Beach, a city on the east coast of the US about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Washington, housed the city’s public works and utilities offices.

1. The first on-screen kiss in South Korea was in 1954.

Nearly six decades after the first on-screen kiss occurred in the West in the 1896 film “The Kiss,” there was an uproar in South Korea in 1954 when the two protagonists of “The Hand of Destiny” had their lip-to-lip moment.

Although this lasted for only a few seconds, it was a symbolic moment in Korean cinema that highlighted the clash of Confucian values and the ever-growing Western influence.

The director and the actress both faced trouble because of the scene, despite it having been shot with the consent of the actress’s husband — and in his very presence. The infuriated husband sued the director, and the two later settled. The movie drew over 50,000 viewers — a success at that time, no doubt thanks to the free marketing from the controversy.

2. North Korea kidnapped a South Korean film duo.

Kim Jong-il, the father of current North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who ruled the communist regime till his death in 2011, was a film buff. His love of cinema was so great that he even ordered the kidnapping of a South Korean actress and a film director — Choi Eun-hee and her ex-husband Shin Sang-ok.

The two were abducted to the Hermit Kingdom separately in the late 1970s and forced to make films until they escaped in 1986 via the US Embassy in Vienna. Among the seven movies they made in the North were “Pulgasari,” a communist version of “Godzilla,” and a drama that included the North’s first on-screen kiss.

The duo returned to South Korea in 1999 after living in the US under the CIA’s protection for a decade. Their tale was made into a documentary film, “The Lovers and the Despot,” and it was released in South Korea after Shin’s death. North Korea never admitted to the abductions. Choi died last year.

3. Korea’s cinematic legacy might provide one more reason for inter-Korean dialogue. 

Many in the South Korean film industry have at least one reason to be thankful for the deceased North Korean leader’s love of film: He collected some of the early masterpieces of Korean cinema in his private archive in the North.

Shin, the abducted director, once testified that the cinephile tyrant had an archive of his favorite South Korean movies from before the 1970s. Among the nearly 200 films in his collection was “The Late Autumn,” released in 1966 by director Lee Man-hee. Considered one of the masterpieces of the era, the film is among the hundreds that remain missing in the South.

In fact, South Korea has done a poor job of preserving its cinematic legacy. Only 22 percent of the films produced in the 1950s and 44 percent of those made in the 1960s remain. And the 1926 “Arirang,” the nation’s first box office hit and its first nationalist film under Japanese colonial rule, is gone, along with several remakes that followed.

Last year South Korean filmmakers set up a special council for inter-Korean exchanges in the field. One of their stated priorities is to share the lists of old films that the two countries hold in their respective film archives.

4. The most watched and highest-grossing South Korean film of all time is about Korea defeating the Japanese invasion in the 16th century. 

“The Admiral: Roaring Currents” swept the country in 2014, grossing nearly $140 million worldwide and attracting over 17.6 million admissions.

The film tells the story of Korea’s most famous naval commander, Yi Sun-sin (1545-98), played by “Oldboy” actor Choi Min-shik, and his fight against the Japanese invaders in the epic sea battle of Myeongnyang in 1597.

The record for foreign films, previously held by “Avatar,” the epic James Cameron film from 2009, was broken this month by Marvel’s “The Avengers: Endgame,” with 13.8 million tickets — and counting — sold as of May 30.

5. South Korea may be reshaping the future of cinema with technology. 

CJ is a South Korean conglomerate heavily invested in the film industry, owning the country’s largest multiplex chain, CJ CGV, and one of the major film distributors, CJ E&M. It is also driving global cinema technology with 4DX and ScreenX.

4DX, developed by CJ 4Dplex, creates the ultimate immersive movie-viewing experience by delivering seat motion, wind, rain, lights and scents on top of the standard video and audio. Combined with ScreenX, a 240-degree panorama screen, the technology is hailed by some industry experts as the future of cinema. 4DX is being used in theaters in over 60 countries and ScreenX in 17 countries.

He was welcomed by his Thai counterpart General Pornpipat Benyasri and Navy chief Admiral Luechai Ruddit.

The Myanmar general signed a condolence book at the privy councillor’s residence before proceeding to bid farewell to the former prime minister at the temple.

Min Aung Hlaing told reporters that he regarded Prem as his “godfather”, and said he felt that losing Prem was like losing a father.

“General Prem was a year younger than my father who already passed away in 2002. I met him for the first time in 2012 after taking the position of Armed Forces commander in chief,” he said.

The Myanmar general said that every time he came to Thailand he would make a courtesy call on Prem, who always welcomed him at his residence.

Min Aung Hlaing praised Prem’s vast experience in the military and politics. “General Prem always told me about his good experiences and gave me good advice every time we met,” he said.

He said Prem told him that each country has its own democratic ways and that we should be grateful and pay back to the motherland. “Those who are ungrateful to their own country are betraying the country,” he said.

Following the footsteps of the late King Rama IX, Prem had told the Myanmar general that agricultural countries like Thailand and Myanmar should solve poverty by using agriculture.

Moreover, a leader should act as an example for his juniors and treat others with respect and fairness.

“I always follow his advice which helps me walk with confidence,” he said.

“I don’t think that a hasty conclusion or comments on the issue are appropriate,” Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Ko Min-jung said at a press briefing.

Read also : N.Korea ‘executed’ officials after failed Trump summit: report

She was responding to a local newspaper’s report that North Korea had executed Kim Hyok-chol, its special envoy for the U.S., and some foreign ministry officials who were involved in preparations for the second summit between leader Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump in late February.

Their two-day talks abruptly ended with no accord.

Kim Yong-chol, a top aide to the leader, was sent to a remote province for hard labor, the Chosun Ilbo said in a front-page story, citing an unnamed source.

“There’s nothing we can confirm (for you),” Ko said. “We are monitoring all related situations (on North Korea). But I think it’s important to figure out how much information in the article has been confirmed.”

    The Chosun Ilbo said Kim Hyok Chol, who laid the groundwork for the Hanoi meeting and accompanied Kim on his private train, was executed by firing squad for “betraying the supreme leader” after he was “won over to the US” during pre-summit negotiations.

“Kim Hyok Chol was executed in March at Mirim Airport along with four senior foreign ministry officials following an investigation,” the newspaper quoted an unidentified source as saying.

The other officials were not named.

    Kim Hyok Chol was the North’s counterpart of US special representative Stephen Biegun in the run-up to the Hanoi summit in February.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean relations, declined to comment on the report.

Some previous South Korean reports of North Korean purges and executions have later proved inaccurate.

The paper also said Kim Jong Un’s interpreter Shin Hye Yong was sent to a prison camp for a mistake at the summit.

She failed to translate Kim’s new proposal when Trump declared “no deal” and walked away from the table, Chosun reported, citing another unnamed diplomatic source.

Kim Jong Un and Trump left the Vietnamese capital without a deal after they failed to reach agreement on rolling back Pyongyang’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

The North has since sought to raise the pressure and carried out two short-range missile tests in May.

Senior party official Kim Yong Chol, the North’s counterpart to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in nuclear talks, was also sent to a labour camp, the paper said.

In April, South Korea’s parliamentary intelligence committee said Kim Yong Chol had been censured over his handling of the Hanoi summit, despite the fact he had recently been named a member of the State Affairs Commission, a supreme governing body chaired by Kim Jong Un.

The Chosun Ilbo itself incorrectly reported in 2013 that Hyon Song Wol, head of the North’s Samjiyon Orchestra, was executed by firing squad for distributing and watching pornographic content.

And the Unification Ministry also mistakenly announced in February 2016 that Ri Yong Gil, chief of the general staff of the North Korean People’s Army, had been executed.

News of the reported purge came as North Korea’s official Rodong Sinmun newspaper, mouthpiece of the ruling party, Thursday warned that officials who committed anti-party or anti-revolutionary acts would face the “stern judgement of the revolution”.

The Mermaid sightseeing boat collided with a much larger passenger cruise vessel on the Danube in the heart of Budapest on Wednesday evening and went down in just seven seconds, police said.

Army divers have joined police in the search for survivors, but the operation has been complicated by high water levels and a fast-moving current after weeks of heavy rainfall.

Authorities show footage of two ships seconds before their collision during a press briefing following a boat accident on the River Danube, at the police headquarters in Budapest, Hungary, 30 May 2019. // EPA-EFE PHOTO

    Thirty-five people were on board the 26-metre Mermaid when it sank, most of them South Korean tourists including a six-year-old girl.

Police showed journalists security camera footage from a bridge in which the Mermaid colliding is seen colliding with the much bigger Viking Sigyn cruise boat.

“The footage shows that before the collision the Mermaid turned towards the Viking Sigyn cruise boat, for some reason, the Viking then turned the small boat over, and it sank within seven seconds,” police colonel Adrian Pal told a press conference.

“A criminal investigation has been launched… for criminal negligence on public waterways,” he said, adding that police were questioning the Ukrainian captain of the Sigyn.

Viking Cruises confirmed that the Sigyn was “involved in an incident” on the Danube but there were no injuries to its crew or guests.

“We are cooperating with the authorities as required,” it said.

Fifteen boats are involved in the search for those still unaccounted for — including the Hungarian captain and crew member — about 15 hours after the Mermaid went down.

Rescuers on a boat are seen on the Danube river near the zone where the “Mermaid” sightseeing boat sank overnight after colliding with a larger vessel in pouring rain on May 30, 2019 in Budapest. // AFP PHOTO

Wreckage was found on the riverbed after several hours of searching near the Margaret Bridge, one of the main links between the two parts of the Hungarian capital, local media said.

Zsolt Gabor Pataki, a colonel with the fire department, said the operation had been extended the entire length of the Danube in Hungary south of Budapest and that the authorities in neighbouring Serbia had been contacted.

Three bodies have already been found several kilometres south of the disaster site, police said.

South Korea’s Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha is due in Budapest on Friday, and the country is also sending an emergency relief team, officials in Seoul said.

In a phone call with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, South Korean President Moon Jae-in called for “active support” from the Hungarian government in the rescue efforts.

South Korean embassy staff have also been assisting the emergency services in the identification of victims.

Hungary’s emergency services spokesman Pal Gyorfi said that seven rescued people were taken to hospital with symptoms of hypothermia and shock.

“The government expresses its condolences to the families of the South Korean victims of the Danube boat accident,” it said on its Facebook page.

“The government is providing all possible help to the police, emergency services, divers, ambulance staff and doctors treating the survivors.”

Access to the river has been blocked by the authorities, according to public television.

A picture taken on May 30, 2019 shows the front of the damaged Viking Cruises Sygin boat moored in Budapest, a few hours after it collided with the “Mermaid” sightseeing boat, wich sank after the accident in the Danube river. // AFP PHOTO

The temperature of the water is chilly, between 10 and 15 degrees Celsius (50 and 59 degrees Fahrenheit), according to local media.

The boat was regularly serviced and had no apparent technical faults, Mihaly Toth, a spokesman for its owner Panorama Deck told Hungarian news agency MTI.

“It was a routine sightseeing trip,” said Toth.

“We know nothing about how it happened, the authorities are investigating, all we know is that it sank quickly.”

During the night search, a film crew working from a bridge south of the accident site used reflector lights to help light up the water through the gloom and pouring rain, local media reported.

The accident happened on a popular part of the Danube river for pleasure trips, from where passengers can view the city and parliament building illuminated at night.

Dozens of small sightseeing boats ply the river through Budapest every day. Larger river cruise boats travelling on the Danube between Germany and the Black Sea typically spend several days moored in the capital.