The island nation's president honored the former U.S. Secretary of State on Thursday.
President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan awarded former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo a presidential honor during the latter's trip to the island nation on Thursday for the former Republican leader's contribution to boosting U.S.-Taiwan relations. China, which claims Taiwan as their territory, decried the move, calling it "despicable."
Pompeo met the Taiwanese leader at the presidential office in Taipei, where President Tsai thanked the former State Secretary for his long-time support of the island nation, Newsmax reported. She remarked, "A visit from such a good friend as Secretary Pompeo attests to the strong Taiwan-U.S. friendship."
President Thai honored Pompeo with the Order of the Brilliant Star with the Grand Cordon, which is one of Taiwan's top honors. A previous honoree of the prestigious recognition was former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who served under the President George W. Bush administration.
During the event, Pompeo wore a face mask with the U.S. and Taiwanese flags emblazoned on it and expressed how proud he was of his achievements while serving under the Trump administration to try and normalize relations with Taiwan and how he had sent U.S. officials to visit the island nation.
"It is not provocative to say that one demands freedom. Indeed to walk away from these things demonstrate the absence of resolve," Pompeo remarked.
According to Reuters, China placed sanctions on "lying and cheating" Pompeo and 27 more top Trump administration officials after President Joe Biden took office in January 2021. When asked about Pompeo's trip to Taiwan to receive the presidential honor, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said spitefully, "The relevant actions from Pompeo are despicable and inevitably a futile effort."
Meanwhile People's Daily, which is China's top state-sponsored newspaper, reacted to Pompeo receiving the presidential honor from Taiwan, calling the former State Secretary an "extremely notorious" anti-China politician who "took pride in lying and deceit" while serving under the Trump administration. Former President Donald Trump, however, strongly supported Taiwan despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties as evidenced by high-profile arms sales and visits by top U.S. officials.
In the last two years, China intensified its military and diplomatic pressure against Taiwan in the hopes of forcing the island nation to accept its sovereignty. Taiwan's democratic government on the other hand refuses, claiming that it wants peace but is ready to defend the island nation if attacked by Chinese forces as their belief is that only they can determine their future.
Meanwhile, Taipei police have launched an investigation into an ominous letter addressed to former State Secretary Pompeo. Newsweek reported that the letter was "typed, unsigned and riddled with spelling errors" and was received by the think tank called Prospect Foundation, where Pompeo was set to give a 20-minute speech on Thursday.
The letter, written in Mandarin, described the former State Secretary as a "thug" and threatened to have him shot and eliminated. The letter demanded that the organizer prepare a coffin for Pompeo. The Foreign Ministry said that Taiwanese authorities are coordinating with the U.S. for Pompeo's security detail. Pompeo made the trip to Taiwan earlier this week alongside his wife, Susan and his top China adviser, Miles Yu.
Pompeo's four-day stint in Taiwan included meetings with President Stai, Taiwan's Vice President William Lai, Premier Su Tseng-chang, parliament speaker You Si-kun and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu. The former State Secretary was also set to meet with business leaders in the island nation's critical semiconductor sector.
