HANGING WITH TOM: NatSec Daily caught up with TOM TUGENDHAT, the U.K.’s minister of state for security, on the sidelines of the Aspen forum. Highlights from our conversation: Iran ‘a new form of state threat’: Yesterday, the U.K. foreign secretary said Britain has disrupted 15 attempts to murder or kidnap individuals in the island nation. Tugenhadt said it shows London is dealing with an “Iranian regime using actions that would be more normally associated with terrorist groups…what we're seeing is a new form of state threat.” We asked if the U.K. or its allies should continue to seek a renewed nuclear deal with Tehran. No one should be “doing anything to help the regime to claim that it has any form of legitimacy or sustainability,” he said. “We're dealing with a regime that has lost legitimacy abroad, has lost legitimacy at home.” U.K.-Apple spat: We asked Tugenhadt about Apple’s threat to remove the iMessage and FaceTime functions from the U.K. over a proposed change to a surveillance law that would give the government more access to encrypted communications. Tugenhadt says the change is needed to crack down on harm to children. “We've seen an expansion, sadly, of child sexual exploitation online over the last many years, and it's posing an increasing threat to many young people in our world,” he said. Asked if targeting tech companies was the way to do that, the minister replied: “There are many different ways in which we're going to look at this.” “It's not a question of cracking down on tech firms. It's a question of engaging with tech firms and finding ways to keep children safe,” he said, refusing repeatedly to comment on Apple’s statement. Asylum seekers to Rwanda: Britain is sending some asylum seekers to Rwanda to seek asylum there, in an effort London claims is to curtail people trafficking to the U.K. NatSec Daily asked why choose Rwanda — the East African country led by an autocrat. Tugenhadt defended the decision. “It's a nation that has welcomed refugees from around the region in various different ways, that has agreed to host and give various guarantees to refugees who would be sent there,” he told us. “I don't accept the way in which you're looking at it.” ‘NOT THINKING CLEARLY’: The American soldier who crossed into North Korea “may not have been thinking clearly,” Army Secretary CHRISTINE WORMUTH said at Aspen on Thursday, adding that she’s worried about his safety. Pvt. TRAVIS KING, who was headed back to the United States after spending time in a South Korean prison for assault, opted instead to cross the heavily armed border into repressive North Korea on Tuesday while he was part of a tour group. Washington has failed to make contact with Pyongyang since the incident. “He is a young soldier, he was facing consequences. I imagine he had a lot of negative feelings,” Wormuth told an audience at the forum. “He may not have been thinking clearly, frankly, but we just don’t know.” Wormuth added that she’s concerned for King’s safety due to North Korea’s history of mistreating American citizens — in some cases leading to death. “What we want to do is get that soldier back into our custody. I worry about him, frankly,” she said, noting how the North Koreans released college student Otto Warmbier in 2017 while he was in critical condition. He died in a hospital six days after his return to the United States. PRIGOZHIN’S BACK: The Wagner paramilitary group is back in action, launching joint drills with the Belarusian military before heading to Africa, the Associated Press reports. Wagner’s goal is to “make the Belarusian army the second strongest army in the world,” YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, the group’s chief, said in a video released Wednesday. It’s his first appearance since leading the failed rebellion, showing he ended up in Belarus (at least for this appearance). Polish Defense Minister MARIUSZ BLASZCZAK ordered his troops to move toward the border in response: “We must bear in mind that bringing a few thousand of Wagner’s forces into Belarus poses a threat to our country,” Blaszczak told a state radio station, adding that his move is “to show Russia that Poland’s border should not be crossed, that it would not pay off to attack Poland.” STOP FUNDING CHINA’S SPACE WORK: China shouldn’t get billions in foreign investment for its space program until it abides by accepted norms of behavior, United Launch Alliance President and CEO TORY BRUNO told NatSec Daily on the sidelines at Aspen. “What has fueled China's meteoric growth is about a half a trillion dollars of Western investment flowing into that country every single year,” he said. “There's no reason why investment in another country isn't conditional upon norms of behavior, and what we do in space and what we do here on Earth.” He said that China’s space program would suffer without foreign investment and, if the money dries up, could even start to contract within five years. However, Bruno is only “50-50” confident that the U.S. and its allies will do what he deems necessary to coerce China into becoming a positive actor in space and in the world. IT’S THURSDAY: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily. This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at award@politico.com and mberg@politico.com, and follow us on Twitter at @alexbward and @mattberg33. While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s national security team: @nahaltoosi, @PhelimKine, @laraseligman, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary, @leehudson, @magmill95, @johnnysaks130, @ErinBanco, @reporterjoe and @JGedeon1.
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