Pompeo lifts 'self-imposed restrictions' on U.S.-Taiwan relationship

By Idrees Ali and David Brunnstrom

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a media briefing at the State Department in Washington, U.S., November 10, 2020. Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday said he was lifting restrictions on contacts between U.S. officials and their Taiwanese counterparts, a move likely to anger China and increase tensions between Beijing and Washington in the waning days of President Donald Trump's presidency.

 

China claims democratic and separately ruled Taiwan as its own territory, and regularly describes Taiwan as the most sensitive issue in its ties with the United States.

 

While the United States, like most countries, has no official relations with Taiwan, the Trump administration has ramped up backing for the island country, with arms sales and laws to help Taiwan deal with pressure from China.

 

In a statement, Pompeo said that for several decades the State Department had created complex internal restrictions on interactions with Taiwanese counterparts by American diplomats, service members and other officials.

 

"The United States government took these actions unilaterally, in an attempt to appease the Communist regime in Beijing," Pompeo said in a statement.

 

"Today I am announcing that I am lifting all of these self-imposed restrictions," he added.

 

The move appeared to be another part of an effort by Pompeo and Trump's Republican administration to lock in a tough approach to China before Democratic President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20.

 

Bonnie Glaser, an Asia expert at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said examples of the restrictions included Taiwanese officials not being able to enter the State Department, but instead having to meet at hotels.

 

"The Biden administration will rightly be unhappy that a policy decision like this was made in the final days of the Trump administration," Glaser said.

 

An official with Biden's transition said that once Biden was in office he would continue to support "a peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues consistent with the wishes and best interests of the people of Taiwan."

 

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States in Washington, which serves as Taiwan's unofficial embassy, said the move showed the "strength and depth" of the United States' relationship with Taiwan.

 

"Decades of discrimination, removed. A huge day in our bilateral relationship. I will cherish every opportunity," Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan's de facto ambassador in Washington, tweeted.

 

Pompeo, who has taken an increasingly hard-line stance toward China and identified it as the principal long-term threat faced by the United States, has repeatedly used the red-button Taiwan issue to push back against Beijing.

 

In November, he appeared to call into question the long-standing U.S. "one-China policy" by stating in a radio interview that Taiwan "has not been a part of China," causing Beijing to warn that behavior that undermined "China's core interests and interferes with China's domestic affairs will be met with a resolute counterattack."

 

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Kelly Craft, will visit Taiwan next week for meetings with senior Taiwanese leaders, prompting China to warn on Thursday they were playing with fire.

 

Chinese fighter jets approached the island in August and September during the last two visits: by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Keith Krach, respectively.

 

The United States is Taiwan's strongest international backer and arms supplier, and is obliged to help provide it with the means to defend itself under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.

 

"The United States government maintains relationships with unofficial partners around the world, and Taiwan is no exception. ... Today’s statement recognizes that the U.S.-Taiwan relationship need not, and should not, be shackled by self-imposed restrictions of our permanent bureaucracy," Pompeo said.

 

(Reporting by Idrees Ali and David Brunnstrom; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-01-10

 

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A decision like with with only a few days left in office?  What a horrible politician.  Hopefully, Biden will start reversing all these ridiculous acts by Trump over the years.  Fingers crossed.

pompeo going out with a bang.

China will not be impressed but they only stand over and bully countries that are smaller and weaker than they are, they are totally scared of the USA, that's why they have rattled their cage and done nothing about taking back Taiwan for the past 72 years, cowards!

Probably trying to create more problems for the incoming Biden administration more than anything else at this late date in trumps train wreck administration on the other hand I personally would like to see Taiwan remain independent of China 

7 minutes ago, Tug said:

Probably trying to create more problems for the incoming Biden administration more than anything else at this late date in trumps train wreck administration on the other hand I personally would like to see Taiwan remain independent of China 

I'm all for this also, but not done at the last minute to screw Biden.  Horrible actions by these horrible politicians.

40 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

China will not be impressed but they only stand over and bully countries that are smaller and weaker than they are, they are totally scared of the USA, that's why they have rattled their cage and done nothing about taking back Taiwan for the past 72 years, cowards!

 

Yeah, if only China had some heroic ninja keyboard warriors.

1 minute ago, Blue Muton said:

 

Yeah, if only China had some heroic ninja keyboard warriors.

Nihao ma! They have covid spreading warriors!

4 hours ago, Blue Muton said:

 

Yeah, if only China had some heroic ninja keyboard warriors.

They do, and they get paid for it!

50 Cent Party - Wikipedia

So why did he wait until he and Trump only have a few days left in office? 

52 minutes ago, Arkady said:

So why did he wait until he and Trump only have a few days left in office? 

Because trump and his minions have found out trade wars aren't easy to win and are thinking of going for óutright war?

Does the Secretary of State have the authority to make this decision alone?

1 hour ago, Arkady said:

So why did he wait until he and Trump only have a few days left in office? 

Simply put, to give as much trouble to Biden's team as possible, in hope he spends next 4 years undoing Trump mess, and does not fulfill any promises during the mandate, so Trump can run against him in 2024 pointing out exactly that. Which is also why Democrats are trying to impeach Trump a week before leaving office to disqualify him from running in 2024...

8 hours ago, PatOngo said:

China will not be impressed but they only stand over and bully countries that are smaller and weaker than they are, they are totally scared of the USA, that's why they have rattled their cage and done nothing about taking back Taiwan for the past 72 years, cowards!

Logistics alone dictate that neither side will “win” but the people of Taiwan will certainly lose.  The Chinese are clever enough to understand that a population of 24 million taken at the point of a gun is more trouble than it is worth. 

1 hour ago, chilli42 said:

Logistics alone dictate that neither side will “win” but the people of Taiwan will certainly lose.  The Chinese are clever enough to understand that a population of 24 million taken at the point of a gun is more trouble than it is worth. 

Yeah? Tell that to the 7.5 million people of Hong Kong and you can add to that, China has aspirations that go far beyond dominating just those two countries. The Chinese are not as clever as you think. 

Pompeo who?

I like the decision, but the timing and manner in which it was announced stinks to high heaven.  Trump is poking China in the eye then running away and letting Biden deal with the consequences.

1 hour ago, DBath said:

Yeah? Tell that to the 7.5 million people of Hong Kong and you can add to that, China has aspirations that go far beyond dominating just those two countries. The Chinese are not as clever as you think. 

 

hong kong is a country?

1 hour ago, DBath said:

Yeah? Tell that to the 7.5 million people of Hong Kong and you can add to that, China has aspirations that go far beyond dominating just those two countries. The Chinese are not as clever as you think. 

Their god is money and if they go to war with Hong Kong and Taiwan most of the rest of the world will place massive sanctions on them which means they’ll be back in the Stone Age within 6 months because they are an export economy. I’m pretty sure they’re smart enough to know that! 

This is one question, where as much as I hate myself for this, I agree with the Trump administration.

 

I've lived in both China and Taiwan, and much as they might well have been one people before, they have diverged so much apart  from speaking the same language, they are two very different people.

 

The US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, I could go on, may well have been British in the past but no one would today argue that they are part of the same country or culture, yet we share the same language.

 

There was a point where Taiwanese flirted with the idea, when I lived there, that they could potentially live the one country two systems model.

 

That, talking to friends now is totally shattered.

 

I used to go to meetings at the American Institute, which is in effect the American Embassy in Taipei, but to maintain the illusion of the One China Policy can't be called that.

 

This may be late in the game, and I wish the US had forced this issue 20 years ago, probably at the time of the HK handover, when Beijing was a whole lot weaker, but it was, and is something that needs to be resolved and Taiwan's position as a sovereign State finally resolved

 

 

4 minutes ago, GinBoy2 said:

This is one question, where as much as I hate myself for this, I agree with the Trump administration.

 

I've lived in both China and Taiwan, and much as they might well have been one people before, they have diverged so much apart  from speaking the same language, they are two very different people.

 

The US, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, I could go on, may well have been British in the past but no one would today argue that they are part of the same country or culture, yet we share the same language.

 

There was a point where Taiwanese flirted with the idea, when I lived there, that they could potentially live the one country two systems model.

 

That, talking to friends now is totally shattered.

 

I used to go to meetings at the American Institute, which is in effect the American Embassy in Taipei, but to maintain the illusion of the One China Policy can't be called that.

 

This may be late in the game, and I wish the US had forced this issue 20 years ago, probably at the time of the HK handover, when Beijing was a whole lot weaker, but it was, and is something that needs to be resolved and Taiwan's position as a sovereign State finally resolved

 

I also agree with the decision.  However the decision could have been made at any time since Jan 20, 2016.  The only reason to make it now is to leave the Biden administration another huge problem to deal with.

 

In every way possible Trump is trying to set up the Biden administration to fail.  This is contrary to every handover in power in living memory.

1 minute ago, heybruce said:

I also agree with the decision.  However the decision could have been made at any time since Jan 20, 2016.  The only reason to make it now is to leave the Biden administration another huge problem to deal with.

 

In every way possible Trump is trying to set up the Biden administration to fail.  This is contrary to every handover in power in living memory.

Well I also agree with that 

 

Something that could, and should have been done four years ago, does rather question the motives!

Excellent move, if long overdue. 

And how will this benefit Taiwan? This is just a ploy to distract from the lack of success in Trump's economic initiative. And a way to make it harder for the Biden administration to make progress on the economic front vis-à-vis China. 

China will make all SEA countries in states that the Han Chinese will eventually take over. Cambodia and Loa are almost there, Thailand isn't far behind. They will use their economic might and the control they have over SEA's water supply.

11 minutes ago, Sakeopete said:

China will make all SEA countries in states that the Han Chinese will eventually take over. Cambodia and Loa are almost there, Thailand isn't far behind. They will use their economic might and the control they have over SEA's water supply.

While your prognostication may well be true, it doesn't have much to do with this thread, does it?