US ‘firm’ in commitments to Taiwan

– Taiwan must not be allowed to go the same way as Ukraine, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said yesterday during a meeting with the island’s president.

“If any of us were complacent about the risk to that freedom, I think we need only watch what’s taking place in Europe today to see that this continues to demand deep, concerted focus leadership from those of us who cherish freedom,” Pompeo said in a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen.

“These days call for the simple reminder that it is not provocative to say that one demands freedom,” he added warning “those who desire to destroy freedom, to change human lives” will see silence as an opportunity.

Pompeo, one of former president Donald Trump’s most hawkish advisers on China, is in Taipei at a time of rising tensions between Washington and Beijing over the self-ruled island as well as the crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

His visit comes a day after a separate trip by a delegation of former US security officials aimed at assuring regional allies that Washington “stands firm behind its commitments”.

Democratic Taiwan has watched the Ukraine situation closely, as it lives under constant threat of a Chinese invasion, with Beijing claiming sovereignty over it and vowing to seize it one day – by force if necessary.

Pompeo announced last year as outgoing state secretary that Washington was ending restrictions on official contacts with Taipei, which angered Beijing. Tsai praised Pompeo for facilitating “multiple breakthroughs” in Taiwan-US relations. –