BANGKOK, Aug 1 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo on Thursday criticised 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.
Pompeo spoke in Bangkok, where he met ministers of the Lower
Mekong Initiative countries, who complain of drought caused in
part by upstream dams on the river.
"The river is at its lowest levels in a decade, a problem
linked to China's decision to shut off water upstream," Pompeo
said.
Drought in Thailand, the host for this week's meeting of
ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) and others, including China and the United States, has
led to the government asking farmers to delay planting rice.
(Writing by Kay Johnson
Editing by Robert Birsel)