Taiwan must not be allowed to go the same way as Ukraine, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday during a meeting with the island’s president.
“If any of us were mistaken or complacent about the risk to that freedom, I think we need only watch what’s taking place in Europe today to see that this continues to demand deep concerted focus leadership from those of us who cherish freedom,” Pompeo said in a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen.
“I think these days call for the simple reminder that it is not provocative to say that one demands freedom,” he added warning that “those who desire to destroy freedom, to change human lives” will see silence as “their opportunity”.
Pompeo, one of former president Donald Trump’s most hawkish advisors on China, arrived in Taipei on Wednesday for a visit at a time of rising tensions between Washington and Beijing over the self-ruled island as well as the crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
His visit comes a day after a separate trip by a delegation of former US security officials aimed at assuring regional allies that Washington “stands firm behind its commitments”.
Democratic Taiwan has watched the Ukraine situation closely, as it lives under constant threat of a Chinese invasion, with Beijing claiming sovereignty over the island and vowing to seize it one day — by force if necessary.
Pompeo announced in January last year as the outgoing state secretary that Washington was ending restrictions on official contacts with Taipei island in a move that angered Beijing.
Tsai praised Pompeo for facilitating “multiple breakthroughs” in Taiwan-US relations after conferring him an honorary medal to recognise his contributions.
China has ramped up pressure on Taiwan since the 2016 election of Tsai, who rejects its stance that the island is part of Chinese territory.
Its sabre-rattling has increased considerably over the past year, with warplanes breaching Taiwan’s air defence zone on a near-daily basis.
Just weeks before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, China and Russia signed a joint statement agreeing to a host of foreign policy goals, including Taiwan being “an inalienable part” of the mainland.
HD Editor’s Note: Why Is This News Biblically Relevant?
Pompeo has been vocal in his support for Taiwan and the importance of the Biden administration keeping its commitment to defend the island nation against communist China.
“I saw President Biden say that we have a commitment to defend Taiwan,” Pompeo said in December. “I hope that when he said that he was intent upon that. You can’t draw a red line like that. You can’t make statements like that and not mean them. There’s an expectation now that he will follow through on that commitment, and I hope the Biden Administration thought that through, and it wasn’t just a random comment from a President who wasn’t clear about what he was saying.”
In August, China warned Taiwan that the United States would not come to their rescue “Once a war breaks out” in the Straits.
“From what happened in Afghanistan,” Chinese state-run media outlet Global Times wrote, “those in Taiwan should perceive that once a war breaks out in the Straits, the island’s defense will collapse in hours and US military won’t come to help.”
Pastor Jack Hibbs, of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, discussing the increasing tensions across Europe resulting from Russian aggression, wrote: “I’m not going to say ‘I told you so’ but I have been saying that a weak USA would result in China taking Taiwan and Russia stepping into the Middle East – I guess the Ukraine is a bonus.”
Amid global escalation, Hibbs, in a separate post, reminded Christians of Jesus words in Matthew 24.
“Jesus said as we approach the last days you will hear of wars and rumours of wars,” He said on Telegram.
In Matthew 24, the disciples ask Jesus, “What shall be the sign of thy coming?” Jesus’s response is a detailed description of the condition of the world and what it will look like in the last days before His return. Wars and rumours of wars, nation rising against nation, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, these being the beginning of sorrows.
In Luke 21:25, Jesus describes that “upon the earth” there will be “Distress of Nations with Perplexity.“
These things will be greatly increased and primarily take place during the seven-year Tribulation (from which the church is absent). However, with the current global state of turmoil amongst the nations, we can’t help but recognize the distress of nations Jesus describes in Luke 21 and Matthew 24, rising in our world today.
