Chinese invasion depends on Taiwan, the West's preparedness: Pompeo
ROC Central News Agency
03/04/2022 07:00 PM
Taipei, March 4 (CNA) Whether China invades Taiwan will depend on how much Taiwan is willing to spend to beef up its defense capabilities and the willingness of the West to show Beijing it would pay a high price, former United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in Taipei on Friday.
Asked about the likelihood of China initiating a cross-Taiwan Strait war during a press event in Taipei at which Pompeo only took pre-vetted questions submitted days earlier, the former diplomat said he could not answer the question in a static way.
"It depends. It depends on how we respond and behave. It depends on the work that we do," he said.
It was noteworthy, he said, that China under the leadership of Xi Jinping (習近平) has achieved most of its objectives without undertaking military action.
"It's been done through his use of the Belt and Road Initiative. It's been done through his use of information operations around the world, but then through influence operations around the world," according to Pompeo.
It has also been done by exercising economic coercion on smaller governments with threats of economic sanctions or by stop sending tourists if they recognize Taiwan, he added.
Meanwhile, the ex-U.S. top diplomat said the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine can serve as a lesson for freedom-loving countries in dealing with cross-Strait tensions.
He said there were certainly some similar risks at a time when some experts are comparing the Russian-Ukraine tensions to those between China and Taiwan.
In both cases, they are "authoritarian regimes with great power, who desire to use aggressive military force to bully around smaller nations," Pompeo said.
He argued, however, that Taiwan presents a democracy that has great friends around the world and in the region.
"I'm convinced that if we all do the right thing, the United States, Taiwan, every country in Southeast Asia, Pacific island nations, Australia, Japan, South Korea, if we all work together to build out a consistent understanding that we're going to draw the line, we're going to be prepared to fight for the things that matter most to us, that we can continue to keep military deterrence in place," he said.
Friday afternoon's press event was held hours after he gave a speech in Taipei in which he called on the U.S. government to recognize Taiwan as a "free and sovereign country" immediately.
"It is my view that the United States government should immediately take necessary and long overdue steps to do the right and obvious thing. That is to offer the Republic of China (Taiwan) America's diplomatic recognition as a free and sovereign country," Pompeo said.
He did not indicate, however, if that recognition would simply be rhetorical or if it meant Washington should reestablish diplomatic relations with Taipei, and he also did not indicate why he did not do that when he had the chance as secretary of state.
The U.S. and the Republic of China severed official ties in 1979 after Washington recognized Beijing.
At Friday afternoon's press event, Pompeo said it was important for the U.S. to have clarity in recognizing the reality that the Republic of China (Taiwan) is a sovereign state.
"But sometimes, sometimes we're just a little worried that even saying so might provoke a bad guy," he said, referring to China, which sees Taiwan as part of its territory.
He also addressed why the State Department did not lift its restrictions on how U.S. officials interact with Taiwanese counterparts until early January 2021, just weeks before the Trump administration was to step down after it was defeated in the November 2020 presidential election.
The decision was made based on the fundamental principle that Taiwan is in fact a sovereign nation and therefore the U.S. should treat its diplomats the ways it treated diplomats of other countries, he said.
"Why didn't it happen quicker? Bureaucracies are hard to move," he said.
Friday's press event was originally scheduled for an hour but was later cut short to around half an hour because Pompeo had other business to attend to, according to event organizers.
All the questions asked during the press event were asked by the event's host based on pre-submitted questions days ago by journalists when they registered for the event. Journalists did not have the chance to ask live questions.
Pompeo arrived in Taiwan late Wednesday, accompanied by his wife Susan Pompeo, his former advisor on China policy Miles Yu (余茂春), and nine other people, for a four-day visit to meet with senior officials and business leaders.
On Thursday, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) awarded a special honor to Pompeo in recognition of his contributions to promoting closer ties between Washington and Taipei during his tenure.
(By Joseph Yeh)
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