Pompeo cancels Europe trip after Luxembourg snub
- by Lorene Schwartz
- in People
- — Jan 14, 2021
Bonnie Glaser, an expert on Taiwan and China at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Taipei would be "disappointed, but also somewhat relieved" by Craft's last-minute cancellation.
Chen tweeted she was extremely pleased and honored to visit the embassy, saying it was "the very first time in my diplomatic career".
While the United States, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, it is the island's strongest global backer and arms supplier, being obliged to help provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act. The TRA authorizes the United States to provide the island with military equipment for its self-defense, and set up a nonprofit corporation called the American Institute in Taiwan, which is now the de-facto US embassy on the island.
The US has canceled a visit to Taiwan by its senior envoy to the United Nations, officials confirmed on Wednesday.
With Biden likely to focus on domestic political priorities at the start of his term, Pompeo's abolition of contact restrictions - and the possibility of continued retribution from Beijing - serves as "further impetus to make sure that Taiwan gets the attention it deserves", Goto said.
"Pompeo's move could be seen as advancing what bipartisan Taiwan policies have been pushing for, which is more high-level diplomatic dialogue", Nachman said.
Lev Nachman, a PhD candidate focusing on Taiwan politics at the University of California, Irvine, says the United States decision could also be interpreted as an attempt to fulfill the promise of more high-level diplomatic exchanges between the two sides, as envisioned in the Taipei Act and the Taiwan Travel Act.
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Despite the cancellation of Craft's visit, Pompeo's late action on Taiwan in the last days of Trump's presidency "gives greater emphasis for the Biden administration to continue to focus its attention on Taiwan, which is not a bad thing for Taiwan", Goto said.
Another noted, "Just as we routinely denounce foreign leaders who use violence and intimidation to interfere in peaceful democratic processes and override the will of their voters, the department's public statements about this episode should also mention President Trump by name".
The decision also grounded USA ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft's scheduled trip to Taiwan.
Under President Trump, the U.S. has established much closer ties with Taipei - ramping up arms sales and sending senior officials to the territory, despite fierce warnings from China. "It was part of a statement condemning the Chinese government for arresting many pro-democracy politicians and activists in Hong Kong". "Hopefully we will never have a secretary of state like this, or a president like this or a relationship like this with Europe again".
Pompeo has faced backlash of his own, including from US diplomats, for standing by Trump even as other Republicans condemned his speech, blamed him for the violence and called on him to recognize Joe Biden as the president-elect. The official said Biden will support "a peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues consistent with the wishes and best interests of the people of Taiwan".
Secretary of State Pompeo on Saturday lifted restrictions on contacts between US and Taiwan officials, including rules dictating where representatives may meet and preventing the USA from referring to Taiwan as a "country".
