Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo’s trip to Kaohsiung on Sept. 26 was part of his second visit to Taiwan, following a trip to Taipei in March. Unlike most US officials who have confined their visits to northern Taiwan, Pompeo traveled south to Kaohsiung and Tainan to make exchanges with Taiwanese business representatives.
Setting out from the south and reviewing Taiwan’s role in the Indo-Pacific region, Pompeo, in a moment of spontaneity, said he saw another side of Taiwan.
Dubbed Taiwan’s most faithful champion and ardent supporter, Pompeo lifted US restrictions on exchanges with Taiwan during his term in office and, after leaving his post, called on Washington to officially recognize Taiwan.
Pompeo also has had first-hand experience of clashing with Beijing. When distinguishing between China and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), he dealt a blow to the CCP’s propaganda line that the party equals China. Pompeo’s vision and strategy is helping to shape democratic countries’ policies toward China.
Pompeo served as the 70th US secretary of state, from 2018 to last year. This was the period when then-US president Donald Trump launched his signature trade dispute against China, turning away from a policy of engagement to one of rivalry and restraint. During this critical paradigm shift, Pompeo played a vital role in the transition.
In 1972, then-US president Richard Nixon visited China to develop relations and counter the Soviet Union by playing the China card.
However, years of acquiescence and accommodation on the US’ part have given birth to the world’s greatest autocratic regime.
In 2020, Pompeo delivered a speech at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum titled “Communist China and the Free World’s Future.” He reflected on how the US’ engagement policy for half a century failed to bring the kind of change in China that Nixon had hoped to induce, and he called on the global community to recalibrate the way it perceives the CCP.
“If the free world doesn’t change, communist China will surely change us,” he said.
In 2018, the Trump administration took the initiative to contain China while other democratic countries stayed on the fence.
However, the CCP’s genocidal oppression of Uighurs and Tibetans, crackdown on and arrests of Hong Kong residents fighting for freedom, and various acts against universal values and human rights have made it increasingly difficult for democratic countries to continue to turn a blind eye.
Just as COVID-19 rampaged around the world, the virus of autocracy is spreading to other nations.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, China and Russia became partners in crime, while North Korea brewed another missile crisis. Different from the Cold War when democratic and communist camps safeguarded their own territories, the CCP now assumes the role of an autocratic “Big Brother,” controlling and rallying anti-democratic countries, while using coercion and infiltration to subvert democratic countries. As Pompeo warned, if the free world does not push back, the CCP could surely change us.
Following the awakening of democratic countries, US President Joe Biden’s administration has sought to strengthen and consolidate a democratic coalition, with Ukraine and Taiwan on the front line to deter autocratic expansion. In the face of the CCP, Taiwan is in the direct line of attack.
To prevent Beijing from taking Taiwan by force, the US would have to deepen its partnership with Taiwan, which is an important legacy left by Pompeo. This is more than an elevation and enhancement of official exchanges between Taiwan and the US.
Economically, Pompeo started the US-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue in 2020 through the US Department of State, where economic and trade officials from the two nations focused on issues such as 5G, high-tech supply chains and infrastructure cooperation.
This paved the way for the Biden administration to continue pushing for the goals in the forum, placing them as a major focus in its US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade. As Pompeo chose the right path, there has never been stronger bipartisan consensus regarding Taiwan in Washington.
Attending the Global Taiwan Business Forum held by the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in Kaohsiung, Pompeo said that the US — after decades of naive engagement with China — is now at a crossroads, seeking to make the strategic shift to decouple from China and move closer to Taiwan in terms of trade and economy.
He proposed “turbocharging” Taiwan-US trade agreements to strengthen bilateral relations, adding that if the US government is slow on the uptake, the private sector would have to step in to accelerate the process.
Pompeo’s speech had two implications. The first was to urge the Biden administration to quicken the pace of partnership and highlight that it would be unwise to exclude Taiwan from the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. If the US wishes to build a clean, secure supply chain, Taiwan would need to be at the heart of it.
Second, as the US and China are on a collision course over Taiwan, China would be offering benefits and interests aside from military intimidation. As a result, the US has to speed up strengthening its economic ties with Taiwan. If Taiwan is too economically reliant on China for trade, China would have enough bargaining chips to sabotage the US-Taiwan relationship, and could even shift the US’ leading position in countering China.
Pompeo also said that preparation was the most important task to deter a potential Chinese invasion. From a strategic perspective, Taiwan-US cooperation is more than military cooperation. Strengthening economic and trade partnerships is equally crucial.
By choosing to travel to southern Taiwan, Pompeo signaled that Taiwan’s position in the regional and global community needs reassessing. The CCP once launched the “go south, aim lower” tactic, asking its officials to seek influence in southern Taiwan and among locals, as opposed to government officials. This means that democratic countries have to put in more effort to support Taiwan and prevent a Chinese invasion.
During Pompeo’s trip to Taipei in March, he first proposed that Washington recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state, which was followed by the Biden administration announcing that Washington’s stance on Taiwan’s status is unsettled. Pompeo’s trip to Koashiung took the counter-strategy further by incorporating trade and economy.
As a heavyweight in the global political sphere, Pompeo has elevated Taiwan’s status and helped ensure that the US’ Taiwan policy stays on the right course.
Translated by Rita Wang
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