Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo yesterday evening arrived in Taipei for a four-day visit that is to include meetings with top-level officials.
Pompeo, who served as his country’s top diplomat during the administration of former US president Donald Trump, arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 7:38pm, accompanied by his wife, Susan Pompeo, his former adviser on China policy Miles Yu (余茂春) and nine other people.
The group was greeted at the airport by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Tseng (曾厚仁).
Photo: AP
Upon his arrival, Pompeo said it was “wonderful” to be in Taiwan.
“I’ve been looking forward to coming to visit with the people of Taiwan for a very long time,” he told reporters. “I’m so much looking forward to my trip, to meeting with businesspeople, people from government, people all across your great nation.”
Pompeo, who is a distinguished fellow at the Washington-based Hudson Institute think tank, had expressed interest in visiting Taiwan after the change of administration in the US in January last year.
During his stay in Taiwan, Pompeo would meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Vice President William Lai (賴清德) and other top government officials, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
During his meeting with Tsai today, he would be awarded the Order of Brilliant Star in recognition of his contributions to promoting Taiwan-US relations, the Presidential Office said.
He is also to give a speech at the government-affiliated Prospect Foundation tomorrow, the foreign ministry said.
Meanwhile, Taipei police were yesterday investigating a threatening letter received on Tuesday by the foundation, which had invited Pompeo to Taiwan.
“The American hoodlum Pompeo is coming to Taiwan for a public visit... [I am] ready to shoot and kill him... Please prepare one coffin,” the printed letter read in Chinese, images released by police showed.
It was signed: “A person with schizophrenia.”
Investigators and forensic units have collected fingerprints from the letter and are working around the clock to find the person who sent it by matching the prints with those in the police database, said Chen Chun-cheng (陳俊誠), captain of a criminal investigation division at a Taipei police precinct.
Police are also reviewing surveillance camera footage after it was verified that the letter was sent from a post box in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和).
The letter could be a prank, but police are not taking it lightly, Chen said, adding that security measures for Pompeo would be tightened.
Additional reporting by Jason Pan
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