State media blast latest U. S. outreach to Taiwan
— China’s state media lashed out at the latest move on Taiwan by the departing Trump administration, accusing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of “seeking to maliciously inflict a longlasting scar on ChinaU. S. ties.”
A writer for the official Xinhua News Agency also said in a commentary Sunday that the lifting of longstanding restrictions on U. S. government contacts with Taiwanese counterparts proves that Pompeo “is only interested in stoking unwarranted confrontations, and has no interest in world peace.”
Another commentary posted online by CGTN, the Englishlanguage channel of state broadcaster CCTV, called Pompeo’s announcement “a cowardly act of sabotage” of the next U. S. administration.
“The Trump administration, in its continuing efforts to burn the house down before leaving office, has crossed a dangerous red line with China days before incoming President Joe Biden takes office,” the commentary said. Biden takes office on Jan. 20.
Pompeo ended State Department restrictions on how U. S. officials can interact with Taiwan, which he said had been implemented to appease the Communist regime in Beijing.
“No more,” Pompeo declared in a statement Saturday. “Today I am announcing that I am lifting all of these selfimposed restrictions.”
Taiwan is a sensitive issue for China’s ruling Communist Party, which considers the selfgoverning island of 23.6 million people a renegade province that should be brought under its rule.
Under the oneChina policy, the U. S. recognizes Beijing as the government of China and doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. But it maintains unofficial contacts inBEIJING cluding a de facto embassy in Taipei, the capital, and supplies military equipment for the island’s defense.
Taiwan’s leaders welcomed Pompeo’s announcement.
“We are expressing our gratitude toward the U. S. for speaking out and supporting Taiwan,” said Premier Su Tsengchang. “We also hope to interact actively with each other further, so that Taiwan could have an even bigger space in the international society.”
He and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, who thanked Pompeo on Twitter, emphasized the values of freedom and democracy shared by Taiwan and the U. S. — a contrast to China’s authoritarian oneparty state.
Pompeo’s announcement came two days after he said he would send Kelly Craft, the U. S. ambassador to the United Nations, to Taiwan for meetings this week. She is due to arrive on Wednesday.