U.S. CANCELS UN ENVOY’S TRIP TO TAIWAN

A cancellation of all travel by the U. S. State Department this week includes a planned visit to Taiwan by U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft, a State Department spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

Craft had been due to visit Taiwan from Wednesday to Friday, prompting China to warn that Washington was playing with fire. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday that all travel this week had been cancelled, including a trip by him to Europe, as part of the transition to the incoming Biden administration.

But European diplomats and others familiar with the matter said Luxembourg’s foreign minister and top EU officials had declined to meet with him during his planned European trip this week.

Craft’s Taiwan trip appeared to be another part of an effort by Pompeo and President Donald Trump’s Republican administration to lock in a tough approach to China before Democratic president- elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20.