The US should officially recognize Taiwan as a free, independent nation and establish official diplomatic ties, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo told an event at the Hudson Institute in Washington on Friday.
Every US president since Harry Truman has considered Taiwan’s existence to be of utmost importance to US national security, Pompeo said.
Taiwan is a principal US partner in technology and economic matters, and if China were to capture Taiwan’s semiconductor supply chain, it would severely hamper the US economy, Pompeo said.
Should China occupy Taiwan, it would severely weaken US influence in the Indo-Pacific region and its surrounding areas,
GLOBAL STRATEGY: Indo-Pacific alliances need reinforcement to prevent Chinese occupation of Taiwan, which would threaten Japan, Hawaii and Australia, Pompeo saidBy Su Yung-yao and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer
TAIPEI PROTEST INSTIGATED: Taiwanese unification advocates gathered at the Japan association office, urged on by the Chinese media, an official saidBy Su Yung-yao and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writer
A national security official earlier this week warned of Beijing’s “trifecta” strategy of intimidating other countries, after Japan was rebuked for reportedly planning to station an active-duty defense attache at the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association over the summer.
The Sankei Shimbun on June 4 reported that the Japanese Ministry of Defense was for the first time considering dispatching a serving civilian rather than a retired official to the association amid intensifying Chinese pressure in the Taiwan Strait.
Tokyo has traditionally sent a retired military officer to serve as an unofficial liaison at the association, the newspaper said.
Although Tokyo declined to comment officially on