China’s state media attacks Pompeo over Taiwan

“The Trump administration, in its ongoing efforts to burn down the house before leaving office, crossed a dangerous red line with China days before incoming President Joe Biden took office,” the comment reads in part.

Biden takes office on January 20th.

There was no immediate comment from the Chinese government on Pompeo’s decision to lift the State Department’s restrictions on how US officials could deal with Taiwan, which he said was implemented to appease the communist regime in Beijing.

“Not anymore,” Pompeo said in a statement Saturday. “Today I announce that I am lifting all these self-imposed restrictions.”

Taiwan is a sensitive issue for China’s ruling Communist Party, which views the island of 23.6 million people as an apostate province that should be placed under its rule.

Under the one-China policy, the US recognizes Beijing as the government of China and does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. However, it maintains unofficial contacts, including a de facto embassy in Taipei, the capital, and provides military equipment to defend the island.

Taiwan’s leaders welcomed Pompeo’s announcement.

“We thank the United States for speaking out and supporting Taiwan,” Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang told reporters. “We also hope to continue to actively communicate with each other so that Taiwan can have a greater space in the international community.”

He and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, who thanked Pompeo on Twitter, stressed the values ​​of freedom and democracy shared by Taiwan and the US – a contrast to China’s authoritarian one-party state.

Pompeo’s announcement comes two days after he said he would send Kelly Craft, the US ambassador to the United Nations, to Taiwan for meetings this week. She must arrive on Wednesday.