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Mike Pompeo, who could challenge Donald Trump for the Republican presidential ticket in 2024, is returning to Taiwan next month, a local newspaper said on Thursday.
The Liberty Times, which is hosting a business forum in the island's southern port city of Kaohsiung, said it has invited the former secretary of state to delivery the keynote on September 27. Pompeo will meet with Taiwanese business leaders and also give opening remarks at a second gathering the following day.
The 58-year-old former CIA director last visited Taiwan in early March, at the invitation of the Taiwanese government. His four-day visit, which included meetings with senior leaders and President Tsai Ing-wen, ended with an appearance at a think tank event, where he controversially called for the re-establishment of diplomatic ties between Taipei and Washington.
"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," he said.
The U.S. broke off diplomatic ties with the Republic of China—Taiwan's formal name—in 1979, the same year it began formal relations with the People's Republic of China in Beijing, a government that still claims the island as part of its territory.
While Washington doesn't recognize Beijing's claim over Taiwan, it has committed to maintaining only unofficial ties with Taipei under its "one China" policy. Pompeo didn't say whether he would campaign on a pledge to reverse four decades of U.S. policy if he were to make a bid for president in two years' time.
Following Pompeo's last visit, local news outlets accused the Taiwanese government of failing to disclose details such as payment for the trip, or the former U.S. official's lobbying intentions, although neither practice was unprecedented.
Reached by Newsweek on Thursday, Joanne Ou, Taiwan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said Taipei welcomed Pompeo's visit and was already in touch with the organizers to facilitate his travel.
China, which says the Trump administration brought bilateral relations to an all-time low, sanctioned Pompeo and 27 other officials in January 2021. America's former top diplomat continues to be loathed in Beijing for spearheading the administration's hawkish tone and hard-line opposition to its ruling Chinese Communist Party.
During his time at the State Department, the U.S. sent senior cabinet officials to the island for the first time in more than 40 years and loosened guidelines surrounding interactions between American and Taiwanese officials, much to the displeasure of the Chinese leadership.
The Trump administration also became the first major Western government to formally describe China's repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang as genocide and crimes against humanity, an assessment the Biden administration has upheld.
Earlier this month, Pompeo backed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's plans to visit Taiwan, and argued a U-turn would signal weakness in the eyes of officials in Beijing. The CCP "keeps me up at night," he told Fox News.
In South Carolina on Monday, Pompeo hinted at a possible bid for the White House, even if it meant running against former President Trump.
"If I come to believe that I ought to become president, that I have something to offer the American people, I will run no matter who all decides to get in and who else decides not to get in the race," he said.
Newsweek has sought comment from Pompeo via the Hudson Institute think tank, where he is a distinguished fellow.
About the writer
John Feng is Newsweek's contributing editor for Asia based in Taichung, Taiwan. His focus is on East Asian politics. He ... Read more