In the same week that Taiwanese took to the streets to repudiate Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Taiwan’s leaders rolled out the red carpet for a visit by former U.S. President Donald Trump’s secretary of state, Mike Pompeo.
This is the same man who, together with Trump, withheld military aid from Ukraine to pressure its government to initiate a bogus investigation into Joe Biden’s son, and who then fired the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine when she refused to go along with the extortion attempt.
The jarring juxtaposition of these two events — the Taiwanese people supporting a fellow democracy while their leaders lavished praise on the man who undermined that democracy’s security — reflects a reckless willingness to embrace any foreign politician who will “stand with Taiwan.” Taiwanese leaders are focused so intently on gaining international recognition that they ignore the key threat Taiwan faces: an invasion by China similar to what Russia has done in Ukraine.