SINGAPORE — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo faced criticism from China and skepticism from Southeast Asian powers over U.S. trade policies, as well as a warning from North Korea about Washington’s approach to talks, at a weekend meeting of regional leaders.
At the first gathering of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, that he has attended since becoming America’s top diplomat, Pompeo’s priority was to push countries to enforce U.N. sanctions on North Korea.
He called out China over allegations that it was smuggling goods into North Korea and Russia over allegations that it was promoting North Korean businesses. China didn’t respond directly to Pompeo’s comments, and Russia denied the allegations. Pyongyang, meanwhile, issued a terse warning that President Trump “will face difficulties” unless the U.S. takes steps to build trust between the two countries. The North Korean statement accused Washington of retreating to an old mode of “repeated failures,” and the country’s delegation subsequently shunned potential meetings with U.S. and South Korean officials in favor of talks with China.
Pompeo’s hosts in Singapore, meanwhile, were eager to shift the weekend discussion to the widening tariff battle between the U.S. and China. Singapore’s foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, said the dispute “precisely illustrates why Asean needs to remain united,” and the economic bloc vowed to double down on trade pacts to minimize the damage in the region, which is particularly exposed to fallout from the fight.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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