The State Department announced Tuesday (Jan. 12) that it will cancel all foreign travel plans, with Pompeo‘s own trip to Europe and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft’s visit to Taiwan cancelled.
The State Department said the decision was to allow for a handover from the State Department to the incoming Biden administration.
Although the State Department used the handover as a reason to change the itinerary, European diplomats and other sources familiar with the inside story said that Luxembourg and other senior European officials have refused to meet with Pompeo during his visit to Europe.
The AFP report noted that Pompeo’s trip was not scheduled to meet with any senior EU officials and would have been of limited diplomatic value. A Luxembourg official told AFP that part of the trip had been canceled after Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn called Trump a “criminal” in an RTL broadcast. Asselborn called the outgoing president a “political arsonist” in reference to last week’s attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.
AFP also analyzed the decision to make a 180-degree turn and cancel the trip as a reflection of the turbulence of the transition, “but also allowing both Europe and Taiwan to avoid hosting the potentially awkward delegation of the outgoing administration”.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry: very sorry
Craft was scheduled to visit Taiwan from Wednesday to Friday. In response to the temporary change in his schedule, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its understanding and respect for the State Department’s decision. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs regrets that Ambassador Kelly Craft, the permanent representative of the United States to the United Nations, will not be able to lead a mission to Taiwan from January 13 to 15 as scheduled, but welcomes Ambassador Craft’s visit at an appropriate time in the future.”
Reuters reported that Craft’s visit to Taiwan appears to be a concerted effort by President Trump and Pompeo to make another tough statement on China before President-elect Biden takes office. China had expressed strong opposition to Craft’s visit to Taiwan.
Maggie Lewis, an analyst at Seton Hall University School of Law who is currently based in Taiwan, told AFP that it was “very late” for a visit of this level and that “it’s appropriate to focus on the incoming administration rather than the Trump administration.
So far, Biden has not revealed much detail about his Taiwan policy. Bonnie Glaser, an expert on China and Taiwan at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a U.S. think tank, told AFP that Taipei would be “a little disappointed, but also a little relieved” that the U.S. side canceled its visit to Taiwan at the last minute. She said, “Taiwan does not want to create friction with the incoming U.S. administration”.
U.S. think tank experts said the U.S. side canceled its visit to Taiwan at the last minute, Taipei will be “a little disappointed, but also a little relieved”
“There are no critical points scored and lost for Taiwan to come or not”
Huang Jiezheng, an associate professor at the Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies at Tamkang University in Taiwan and an expert on Taiwan-US relations, also told Deutsche Welle that Craft’s visit to Taiwan would have been “a rather sudden decision”, “I think the US State Department had no plans for her to visit beforehand. From Taiwan’s standpoint, we have been in a diplomatic dilemma for a long time, and it is certainly inconvenient to refuse anything that can enhance Taiwan’s visibility or create a precedent for diplomatic work between Taiwan and the United States. But after she announced she was coming, President Tsai Ing-wen also said Taiwan would not take any chances, and the ROC government did not make a particularly high-profile promotion”. Huang pointed out that even if Craft came to Taiwan, “none of her statements would represent U.S. policy or shape future policy. This is something that is well known”.
The expert on U.S.-Taiwan relations stressed that the visit “from the beginning to the end of the ball in the hands of Pompeo, he canceled the visit, I think we understand it, no need to feel regret. …… to come or not to come to Taiwan, there is no critical score and loss of points for Taiwan”. The key point of Taiwan-US relations is whether the future US policy towards China or cross-strait policy will change, and if it does, how President Tsai’s national security and diplomatic team will respond.
Does it affect cross-strait relations?
Regarding the cancellation of Craft’s visit to Taiwan, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a regular press conference on January 13, “My colleagues and I have repeatedly stated China’s strict position on the proposed visit of U.S. Permanent Representative Craft to the United Nations to Taiwan. I would like to emphasize once again that China is firmly opposed to any form of official U.S.-Taiwan exchanges, and this position is consistent and clear”, and once again urged the U.S. side to abide by the one-China principle and the three U.S.-China joint communiqués, stressing that China will continue to take all necessary measures to firmly defend its sovereignty and security interests.
When it comes to the impact of the matter on cross-strait relations, Tamkang University scholar Huang Jiezheng said, “If Craft comes, of course, it will create a precedent that can score points for Tsai Ing-wen’s government, and there will certainly be some impact on cross-strait relations. But her sudden decision not to come will have a relatively lower direct impact on cross-strait relations, but it will not improve cross-strait relations either, because the most central issue between the DPP government and Beijing is not in Taiwan-US relations”.
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