Taiwan says ‘staunch friend’ Mike Pompeo will visit the island
- Former US secretary of state will meet Taiwanese president, business and academic leaders during a trip that’s likely to rile Beijing
- A vocal supporter of Taiwan, its foreign ministry says he made ‘outstanding contributions’ to relations when he was in office
Pompeo and his wife are due to arrive in Taiwan on March 2, and meetings are planned with government, business and academic leaders during the four-day trip, the Taiwanese foreign ministry said on Monday.
Pompeo will also give a speech at the Prospect Foundation, a government-funded think tank.
“Former secretary of state Pompeo is a long-time and staunch friend of Taiwan who made outstanding contributions to promoting Taiwan-US relations during his time in office,” the ministry said.
It added that the visit showed the “rock solid” bipartisan US support for Taiwan and the close US-Taiwan friendship.
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Pompeo was secretary of state from April 2018 until January last year under the Donald Trump administration, which sought to increase US engagement with Taiwan including through 11 arms sales.
Days before he stepped down, Pompeo said in a Twitter post that included a photo of Taiwanese soldiers: “We’ve stood by our friends in Taiwan. Over the past 3 years the Trump Administration authorized more than US$15 billion in arms sales to Taiwan. The Obama Administration? US$14 billion dollars in sales over 8 years. #DoTheMath.”
Beijing, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has vowed to take the island under its control by force if necessary, has ramped up pressure on Taipei in recent years. It has strongly protested against Washington having official contact with Taipei and supplying defensive arms to the island, demanding that the US – which switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979 – abide by the one-China policy.
As secretary of state, Pompeo set up bilateral communication mechanisms in areas ranging from US-Taiwan education to the economy and science and technology. He also lifted decades-old US administrative restrictions on official exchanges with Taiwan, just days before he left office.
Meetings with Taiwanese officials are now encouraged in federal buildings and can also take place at Taiwan’s representative office in the United States – activities that were strictly prohibited in the past.
“We started staring at them [the rules] and realised it was just crazy. We had this completely separate set of rules that made no sense,” Pompeo told Taiwan’s semi-official Central News Agency last year.
“It made sense for us to have more conversations, not fewer. To have more open conversations, not more clandestine conversations.”
The former secretary of state – who sees mainland China as a threat to the US and the world and has angered Beijing with his remarks – has remained a strong supporter of Taiwan since he left office.
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There has been speculation that Pompeo is considering a 2024 presidential run, with media reports suggesting that he is seeking to upgrade his personal and political brand in preparation. That includes losing weight – 40kg (90 pounds) in six months – and accepting an invitation to speak at a fundraiser on March 11 for the Republican Party of Iowa.
