Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he hopes President Biden was serious about defending Taiwan if China invades the island nation and that it wasn’t a “random comment.”
Pompeo wouldn’t lay out a specific timeline for when Chinese President Xi Jinping will try to take control of Taiwan – which is self-ruled but considered a rogue nation by China – but predicted that it will happen in the next few years.
After Beijing hosts the Winter Olympics next year, Pompeo told John Catsimatidis in an interview that aired Sunday on his WABC 770 radio show that Xi will be coming off a “high point” and “he will make the case for why Taiwan should be under their coercion and their watch.”
“I saw President Biden say that we have a commitment to defend Taiwan. I hope that when he said that he was intent upon it. You can’t draw a red line like that — you can’t make statements like that — and not mean there’s an expectation now that he will follow through on that commitment,” Pompeo said.
“I hope the Biden administration has thought that through, and it wasn’t just a random comment from a president who wasn’t clear about what he was saying,” he said.
Pompeo pointed to the launch of a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile in August by China that “puts America at risk” and warned that America needs to be prepared.
“Xi Jinping, their leader, said he would first bring Taiwan back under their umbrella, then build out of the region and then coerce the entire world. This is something that is not a problem for today or tomorrow, but one that is on top of us now and one we got to take seriously as we think about our strategy to continue to protect and secure America in the decades ahead,” Pompeo said.
Biden, speaking at a CNN town hall last Thursday, was questioned about countering the Chinese Communist Party’s military in light of the hypersonic launch and protecting Taiwan from an attack.
“China, Russia, and the rest of the world knows we have the most powerful military in the history of the world,” Biden said. “Don’t worry about whether we’re going to — they’re going to be more powerful. What you do have to worry about is whether or not they’re going to engage in activities that will put them in a position where they may make a serious mistake.”
“So, are you saying that the United States would come to Taiwan’s defense if China attacked?” moderator Anderson Cooper asked.
“Yes,” Biden replied. “Yes, we have a commitment to do that.”
The next day, the White House walked back his statement, saying the president “was not announcing any change in our policy.”
“The US defense relationship with Taiwan is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act,” the spokesperson said. “We will uphold our commitment under the act, we will continue to support Taiwan’s self-defense, and we will continue to oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo.”
