HONG KONG — Spending on weapons and research is spiking among some Asian countries as they respond to a darkening security outlook by broadening their outside industrial partnerships while trying to boost their own defense industries, a new study has found.

The annual Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment released on Wednesday by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said outside industrial help remains vital even as regional nations ultimately aim for self-reliance.

“Recent conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, coupled with worsening US-China strategic competition and deterioration of the Asia-Pacific security landscape, may lead to a rising tide of defense-industrial partnerships,” it read.

“Competitive security dynamics over simmering flashpoints … feed into the need to develop military capabilities to address them.”

Spending on defense procurement and research and development rose $2.7 billion between 2022 and 2024, it showed, to reach $10.5 billion among Southeast Asia’s key nations of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The spike comes even as the nations spent an average of 1.5% of gross domestic product on defense in 2024, a figure that has kept relatively constant over the last decade.

The study, released ahead of this weekend’s annual Shangri-La Dialogue defense meeting in Singapore, said Asia-Pacific nations still rely on imports for most key weapons and equipment.

Such items range from submarines and combat aircraft to drones, missiles and advanced electronics for surveillance and intelligence gathering.

The informal Singapore gathering of global defense and military officials is expected to be dominated by uncertainties stemming from the protracted Ukraine conflict, Trump administration security policies and regional tension over Taiwan and the disputed busy waterway of the South China Sea.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are increasingly active and making inroads, the study said, though European companies have a prominent and expanding regional presence, via technology transfer, joint ventures and licensed assembly deals.

The UAE now operates a diversified network of collaborators, such as China’s NORINCO weapons giant and rival India’s Hindustan Aeronautics.

Joint development operations are not always easy, the study said, offering lessons from India’s two-decade collaboration with Russia to produce the BrahMos supersonic anti-ship missile.

While the feared weapon is fielded by India, exports have been hampered by lack of a clear strategy, with deliveries to its first third-party customer, the Philippines, starting only in 2024, the study added.

Closer Russia-China ties could further complicate the weapon’s development, particularly if Moscow chooses to prioritize ties with Beijing to develop a hypersonic version of the missile. — Reuters

WASHINGTON — President Donald J. Trump’s administration has ordered its missions abroad to stop scheduling new appointments for student and exchange visitor visa applicants as the State department prepares to expand social media vetting of foreign students, according to an internal cable seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in the cable that the department plans to issue updated guidance on social media vetting of student and exchange visitor applicants after a review is completed and advised consular sections to halt the scheduling of such visa appointments.

The move comes as the Trump administration has sought to ramp up deportations and revoke student visas as part of its wide-ranging efforts to fulfill his hardline immigration agenda.

Several hundred protesters, including Harvard University students and professors, demonstrated in support of foreign students at the Harvard campus on Tuesday, while also protesting Trump administration efforts to cut off funding to the university.

In the cable, first reported by Politico, Mr. Rubio said appointments that have already been scheduled can proceed under the current guidelines, but available appointments not already taken should be pulled down.

“The department is conducting a review of existing operations and processes for screening and vetting of student and exchange visitor (F, M, J) visa applicants, and based on that review, plans to issue guidance on expanded social media vetting for all such applicants,” the cable said.

A senior State department official confirmed the accuracy of the cable.

State department spokesperson Tammy Bruce declined to comment on reports of the cable, but said the US will use “every tool” to vet anyone who wants to enter the United States.

“We will continue to use every tool we can to assess who it is that’s coming here, whether they are students or otherwise,” Ms. Bruce told reporters at a regular news briefing.

The expanded social media vetting will require consular sections to modify their operations, processes and allocation of resources, according to the cable, which advises the sections going forward to take into consideration the workload and resource requirements of each case before scheduling them.

The cable also advises consular sections to remain focused on services for US citizens, immigrant visas and fraud prevention.

Trump administration officials have said student visa and green card holders are subject to deportation over their support for Palestinians and criticism of Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza, calling their actions a threat to US foreign policy and accusing them of being pro-Hamas.

Mr. Trump’s critics have called the effort an attack on free speech rights under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

A Tufts University student from Turkey was held for over six weeks in an immigration detention center in Louisiana after co-writing an opinion piece criticizing her school’s response to Israel’s war in Gaza. She was released from custody after a federal judge granted her bail.

Last week, the Trump administration moved to revoke Harvard’s ability to enroll international students. Those roughly 6,800 students make up about 27% of Harvard’s total enrollment.

The Republican president’s administration has moved to undermine the financial stability and global standing of the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university after it pushed back on government demands for vast changes to its policies. — Reuters