US ambassador to United Nations will visit Taiwan, Mike Pompeo says
- Kelly Craft will be the third senior American official sent to the island since August and the trip is certain to anger mainland China
- Secretary of state calls Taiwan ‘a reliable partner and vibrant democracy that has flourished despite Beijing’s efforts’
He said the arrests were an “outrage and a reminder of the Chinese Communist Party’s contempt for its own people and the rule of law”. Pompeo said Washington would consider sanctions and other restrictions on those involved in the crackdown.
Pompeo also said Craft would be the next US official to be sent to Taiwan, which he called “a reliable partner and vibrant democracy that has flourished despite Beijing’s efforts to undermine its great success”.
“Taiwan shows what a free China could achieve,” he added.
US health chief offers ‘strong support’ to Taiwan in landmark visit
The statement did not say when Craft would travel to the self-ruled island. She will be the third senior US official to go to Taiwan after undersecretary of state Keith Krach visited in September and Health and Human Rights Secretary Alex Azar’s trip in August.
