Pompeo Attends Global Taiwan Business Forum 龐佩奧現身高雄 參加全球台商經貿論壇

Former U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo attended the Global Taiwan Business Forum in Kaohsiung on the 27th to deliver a speech on "Seeing Taiwan's post-COVID-19 pandemic business opportunities from the perspective of international economic and trade trends." It is the second time this year Pompeo has visited Taiwan.
 

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was warmly welcomed as he visited Taiwan for the second time. This time, he was invited by the Global Taiwan Business Forum to discuss global post-pandemic economic trends. Vice President William Lai also appeared onsite to deliver a speech. The police outside of the hotel increased the security level. 

William Lai, Vice President: “China tries to change a world order founded on principles and exploits economics as its tactic for geopolitics. This has shocked the democratic camp that the world needs a new, safe and trustworthy industrial chain.”

The pandemic, China-U.S. trade war, and Russia-Ukraine war have adversely impacted global economic activities one after another, where Taiwan's industries overall also were affected. Lai thanked Pompeo in his speech for his actions in support of Taiwan, including the promotion of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, and in strengthening U.S.' promises to Taiwan security. Meanwhile, Pompeo criticized the Biden administration's Indo-Pacific Economic Framework as ambiguous in that it excludes U.S.' 8th trading partner Taiwan.

Mike Pompeo, Former US Secretary of State: “When I look at the framework, I frankly don't see a lot of economic potentials. I see the Biden Administration foolishly retracting on its 8th biggest trading partner, Taiwan, and they are doing this for political reasons. This was made in spite of the fact that Taiwan made perfectly clear that it wants to be involved.”

Pompeo emphasized that U.S.-Taiwan relation has always been tight, and the United States would never confuse China and Taiwan because Taiwan is a firm ally whereas China is an oppressive opponent; he also anticipates favorably that through a tightknit regional economic cooperation, coupled with Taiwan's free yet law-abiding governance, as well as creative youths, Taiwan will certainly be prosperous and become a world model. The originally-scheduled breakfast meeting with Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai was canceled due to a flight delay; thus Pompeo carved out 10 minutes from his schedule to speak with Chen, exchanging views about how to maintain peace and prosperity in the Taiwan Strait and East Asia regions.
 

酒店還有點距離，就看到民眾舉著歡迎牌，美國前國務卿龐佩奧受邀來台，參加全球台商經貿論壇，這是龐佩奧今年第2度來台，談論疫情後的經貿局勢，副總統賴清德也到場致詞，飯店外警力拉大維安距離，進場安檢更是滴水不漏。

賴清德指出：「中國企圖改變以原則為基礎的世界秩序，也用經濟做為地緣政治的手段，也讓民主陣營驚覺，整個全球需要一條新的、安全的、值得信賴的產業鏈。」

新冠疫情、中美貿易戰到俄烏戰爭，接連衝擊全球經貿活動，台灣各產業同樣受影響，賴清德致詞時，感謝龐佩奧一直以行動支持台灣，包括之前推動美國對台軍售，強化美國對台灣安全的承諾。而龐佩奧則批評拜登政府的印太經濟框架模糊不清，還將第8貿易伙伴台灣排除在外。

龐佩奧表示：「當我看到這個框架時，我看不到巨大的經濟潛力，我看到拜登政府很愚蠢地把第8大貿易夥伴，也就是台灣，擱置在架構之外，因為政治的原因，即便台灣已經清楚地表明希望能夠參加印太經濟的架構。」

龐佩奧強調美台關係一直很緊密，美國不會搞混中國跟台灣，因為台灣是堅定的盟友，而中國則是壓迫性的對手；他也看好透過區域間緊密的經貿合作，還有台灣的自由法治、富有創意的年輕人等，都能為台灣帶來繁榮，成為世界典範。而原本和高雄市長陳其邁早餐會，因班機延誤取消，上午龐佩奧也撥空進行10分鐘會談，雙方就如何讓台海及東亞的和平穩定持續，交換意見。