US not asking ASEAN allies to ‘choose sides’ on China issues – Pompeo

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday that Washington was not asking Southeast Asian nations to “choose sides” between the US and China, as he trialed a rebooted security and trade strategy at a Bangkok summit.

Talks between Pompeo and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, held on the sidelines of the summit of Southeast Asia’s top diplomats, focused on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the trade war between the superpowers and on open access to contested seas, AFP reported.

Pompeo also criticized China’s dam-building on the Mekong River, saying its construction had left the crucial waterway at its lowest level in a decade in Southeast Asian countries downstream, Reuters said.

Drought in Thailand, the host-country for the meeting of ministers, has led the government there to ask farmers to delay planting rice.