US should recognise Taiwan as ‘free and sovereign’ nation, Mike Pompeo says
- Former US secretary of state calls for Washington to ‘take necessary and long overdue steps to do the right and obvious thing’
- Beijing says the remarks are ‘totally absurd’ and his visit to the self-ruled island is ‘despicable and inevitably a futile effort’
“It is my view that the US government should immediately take necessary and long overdue steps to do the right and obvious thing – that is, to offer the Republic of China, Taiwan, America’s diplomatic recognition as a free and sovereign country,” Pompeo said in the speech organised by a Taiwanese government-affiliated think tank.
“This is not about Taiwan’s future independence, it is about recognising an unmistakable, already existent reality. That reality is … there is no need for Taiwan to declare independence because it’s already an independent country,” he said.
“The people and government of the United States should simply recognise this political, diplomatic and sovereignty reality.”
In the speech, Pompeo called on the US to support Taiwan in the way it had defended West Germany during the Cold War. He said if the US did not stand up to Chinese aggression, Beijing might not only want Taiwan but also expand its forces to the South China Sea and elsewhere.