US Cancels UN Envoy’s Trip to Taiwan

Trip was canceled along with all travel by State Department officials for transition period

A planned trip to Taiwan by US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft was canceled on Tuesday, along with all travel by the Trump administration’s State Department this week.

Craft was expected to begin her trip to Taiwan on Wednesday. The planned visit was announced by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week, who is looking to stoke tensions with Beijing as much as possible before Joe Biden is inaugurated.

Pompeo also announced last week that he was lifting the State Department’s restrictions on official US contacts with Taiwan that have been in place since Washington severed diplomatic ties with Taipei in 1979.

Craft’s trip would have marked the third high-level US visit to Taiwan since August, when Health Secretary Alex Azar visited the island, making him the highest-level US official to do so since 1979.

Pompeo’s planned trip to Europe this week was also canceled. The State Department said travel was canceled so the department could focus more on the transition period and work with the incoming Biden administration.

A report from Reuters said some European officials chose not to meet with Pompeo, which could have led to the cancellation. Sources told Reuters that Luxembourg’s foreign minister and EU officials declined to meet with Pompeo over last week’s incident at the US Capitol Building.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave. View all posts by Dave DeCamp

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5 thoughts on “US Cancels UN Envoy’s Trip to Taiwan”

wars r u.s. says:

January 13, 2021 at 10:25 am

“Craft was expected to begin her trip to Taiwan on Wednesday. The planned visit was announced by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week, who is looking to stoke tensions with Beijing as much as possible before Joe Biden is inaugurated.”

“Pompeo’s planned trip to Europe this week was also canceled. The State Department said travel was canceled so the department could focus more on the transition period and work with the incoming Biden administration.”

Did Pompeo have a change of heart between paragraphs?
1. Ram2017 says:
  
  January 13, 2021 at 10:59 am
  
  Pompeo was apparently snubbed by some EU leaders.
  1. wars r u.s. says:
    
    January 13, 2021 at 11:43 am
    
    Yeah. I said that kind of tongue in cheek.
Don Bacon says:

January 13, 2021 at 12:11 pm

I’ve been reporting that official US-Taiwan ties are not permitted by US-China agreements, especially by the “Three Communiques” here. Apparently that thought got through to Pompeo, and Craft’s trip was canceled.
Here’s Pompeo on the Hugh Hewitt show:

SECRETARY POMPEO: Hugh, this is the kind of language that the Chinese Communist Party has been using for an awfully long time now. Everything that President Trump and our administration has done with respect to the Taiwan issue in particular is deeply consistent with a series of agreements over an awfully long time. All we have asked is that the Chinese Communist Party continue to adhere to the “one China” policy and the Three Communiques as well.
We’re in conversations with the Chinese Communist Party about it, but all – they’re reacting to a decision about a series of events, which includes so much as just simply allowing the continuation of unofficial visits between Americans and Taiwanese with a set of rules that we apply to every other nation. This has been President Trump’s policy with respect to China more broadly. All we ask for is fairness, reciprocity, an even-handed way of dealing with each other. It’s appropriate that the Trump administration continue to demand that. . .here
netman says:

January 13, 2021 at 2:23 pm

Poor Pompeo…!All he can do now is travel between white house and his home…!

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