Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo on March 4 called for the US government to “offer the Republic of China (Taiwan) America’s diplomatic recognition as a free and sovereign country,” and called Taiwan’s independence an “already existent reality.”
Pompeo’s remarks — made in speech on a visit to Taiwan, which he later posted on Twitter and Facebook — were as far as I know the first such remarks made by a former senior US diplomatic or national security official since Washington broke diplomatic relations with Taipei in 1979.
Pompeo said he expressed his personal opinion, which should not be interpreted as representing the policy mindset of the administration of US President Joe Biden.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly and appropriately expressed his respect for Pompeo’s remarks, but did not further comment on them.
However, Pompeo’s sincerity can be seen from his public call for a belated, but well-deserved diplomatic recognition for Taiwan’s 23 million free, democratic and peace-loving citizens.
When I was stationed in Washington, I was several times invited to represent Taiwan at international ministerial meetings chaired by Pompeo at the US Department of State, as well as state dinners.
At these events, we discussed topics such as the fight against the Islamic State terror group, in which Taiwan took part by donating funds for mine clearance, a mobile hospital and humanitarian aid for refugees.
Other topics included international religious freedom, and we took part in conferences of the community of democracies.
To be on the safe side, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US always checked in advance with the state department as to what title should be used on my name tag, place cards and attendance lists. When it comes to diplomacy, any detail can lead to unexpected problems, so such details cannot be taken lightly.
The state department is just as cautious and meticulous in its handling of sensitive interactions between Taiwan and the US. I understand that the organizers have on more than one occasion been instructed to “call a spade a spade.”
Consequently, the title used was always plain and simple “Taiwan” — not just on my nametag, but also in group photographs with Pompeo, and when Pompeo was chairing meetings and called on me to speak, as well as the title of the country whose representative was speaking, as displayed on a large screen at the venue.
This clearly demonstrated senior state department officials’ opinion that “Taiwan is Taiwan,” and that there is no need to blur or hide the fact.
Pompeo has taken a consistently friendly attitude to Taiwan.
During his tenure, the US government declassified the “six assurances” made to Taiwan in 1982 by then-US president Ronald Reagan.
Pompeo publicly congratulated President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on her re-election and instructed senior officials to welcome then-vice president-elect William Lai (賴清德) when he visited Washington.
Shortly before leaving office, Pompeo announced the removal of “internal rules” that have restricted Taiwan-US relations for more than 40 years. This was especially appreciated by Taiwanese personnel stationed in the US.
Given this record, the support that Pompeo voiced for Taiwan during his visit was to be expected. By deepening the two countries’ mutual trust and joint efforts, Taiwan-US relations can reasonably be expected to move forward from “normalization” to “formalization,” including, at an appropriate time, renaming our representative offices in the US.
Stanley Kao was representative to the US from 2016 to 2020.
Translated by Julian Clegg
Because much of what former US president Donald Trump says is unhinged and histrionic, it is tempting to dismiss all of it as bunk. Yet the potential future president has a populist knack for sounding alarums that resonate with the zeitgeist — for example, with growing anxiety about World War III and nuclear Armageddon. “We’re a failing nation,” Trump ranted during his US presidential debate against US Vice President Kamala Harris in one particularly meandering answer (the one that also recycled urban myths about immigrants eating cats). “And what, what’s going on here, you’re going to end up in World War
Earlier this month in Newsweek, President William Lai (賴清德) challenged the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to retake the territories lost to Russia in the 19th century rather than invade Taiwan. He stated: “If it is for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn’t [the PRC] take back the lands occupied by Russia that were signed over in the treaty of Aigun?” This was a brilliant political move to finally state openly what many Chinese in both China and Taiwan have long been thinking about the lost territories in the Russian far east: The Russian far east should be “theirs.” Granted, Lai issued
On Tuesday, President William Lai (賴清德) met with a delegation from the Hoover Institution, a think tank based at Stanford University in California, to discuss strengthening US-Taiwan relations and enhancing peace and stability in the region. The delegation was led by James Ellis Jr, co-chair of the institution’s Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region project and former commander of the US Strategic Command. It also included former Australian minister for foreign affairs Marise Payne, influential US academics and other former policymakers. Think tank diplomacy is an important component of Taiwan’s efforts to maintain high-level dialogue with other nations with which it does
On Sept. 2, Elbridge Colby, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal called “The US and Taiwan Must Change Course” that defends his position that the US and Taiwan are not doing enough to deter the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from taking Taiwan. Colby is correct, of course: the US and Taiwan need to do a lot more or the PRC will invade Taiwan like Russia did against Ukraine. The US and Taiwan have failed to prepare properly to deter war. The blame must fall on politicians and policymakers
RSS