タグ: Communist Party of China

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo–America’s Point Man on China Policy.

“President Reagan said that he dealt with the Soviet Union on the basis of ‘trust but verify.’When it comes to the CCP, I say we must distrust and verify.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo July 23, 2020 .

It has become abundantly clear that Donald Trump’s point man on China is Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. In his July 23, 2020 speech at the Nixon Library in Simi Valley California he left no doubt about that.

In the speech Mr. Pompeo outlined the Chinese threat (as seen by the US)  and called for a new alliance against China. He spoke of the United Nations and the G20 and others G7 and NATO standing with the US to deal with China.

The whole speech set out the treats from the Communist Party of China and from the Chinese nation itself. Such cold war rhetoric has not been heard for a long time, and the speech really did lay down the gauntlet.

Observers suggest that the rhetoric will continue and even intensify right up until the 2020 presidential election. One reason for the Trump administration’s belligerence toward China is to ensure the re-election of Donald Trump.

So who is Mike Pompeo anyway?  Mr. Pompeo was born in Orange County California. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point graduating first in his class. After his military duty finished, he entered Harvard University Law School and graduated with a JD degree. After Harvard he entered private business where he teamed up with former classmates to form an aircraft parts business. In 2011 he was elected to the US congress as a Republican Representative for Kansas and where he served from 2011 to 2017. In 2017 he was appointed as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency held that job for a year before being nominated as Secretary of State under President Donald Trump.

Mr. Pompeo, in the Reagan Library speech on July 23, didn’t echo President Ronald Reagan’s words in 1983 calling the Soviet Union an “evil empire” by calling China an “evil empire”, but Pompeo’s meaning, was clear enough about what he considered the Chinese threat.

Worth noting is the fact that Mr. Pompeo in his July 23 speech did not offer any way forward regarding better relations between the US and China. No, China is a menace to world peace and to American democracy, and we must  (all) stand up to China. No more ” Mr. Nice Guy” American hoping for a liberal China to emerge. Time to stand firm.

So the face of the “new Cold War” and the pushback on China is US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. One could argue that he is the right man for the job. A Democratic win in November would tone down a lot of the rhetoric toward China, but American actions under a Democratic president might not be so far different regarding China in many areas.

What do you think? Contact us and let us know your opinion.

Secretary Pompeo’s July 23rd Speech at the Nixon Library.

Photo: US Dept. of State via flickr

World’s Toughest Job? Johnny Chiang Takes Helm at Taiwan KMT.

On March 9, 2020 Johnny Chiang took office as the new president of Taiwan’s KMT party. (Some might say “China’s KMT”…) Many observers feel that the relatively youthful Chiang, 48, has a rough road ahead. Chiang won a decisive victory over his rival Hua Ling-pin by collecting 68.8% of the vote in a low-turnout KMT election. Chiang immediately promised to reform and revitalize the venerable KMT. He promised to do this in terms of party culture as well structure. There was also talk of a more de-centralized or localized KMT.

What makes his job difficult is not just the stodgy image of the KMT and its membership, but also the fact that over 50% of the population consider themselves “Taiwanese” and not Chinese. Despite Beijing’s slow but steady chipping away at Taiwan’s diplomatic alliances, many young people see Taiwan as already an independent country. Polls show that just about 4% of Taiwanese consider their island part of China.

 All of this makes the KMT’s historically pro-Beijing KMT party line a difficult sell to both to younger people as well as to a majority of the Taiwanese. Chiang’s promises of reform and restructuring may indeed succeed, and the KMT may re-invent itself as a leaner, more modern and robust opposition party.

 However, the “panda in the room” is the 1992 Consensus and the One-China policy. From the beginning Mr. Chiang has said that in the short term there will be no announcement on the 1992 Consensus and that a committee will decide. His deft dodging of the question harks back to that master politician himself, Deng Xio-ping, who essentially did the same thing decades before when discussing the fate of Taiwan.

With local elections coming in 2022 and presidential elections again in 2024, the KMT will really have to answer the “one China/ 1992 Consensus” question if it is to have any chance of gaining legislative seats or indeed the presidency itself. What might happen is that the KMT drops its historically pro-Beijing posture and gets closer to the DPP’s position on China. This will get them more votes domestically, but then both parties will have to face the displeasure of the CCP.

Just as Mr. Chiang had won decisively this time, incumbent president Tsai Ing-wen’s Democratic Progressive Party had captured the presidency in the January 2020 elections. After a recent election defeat, Tsai Ing-wen had to step down as DPP party head, and it appeared that the KMT would be resurgent in 2020 and that she would be out. But thanks to the unrest and demonstrations in Hong Kong in 2019, Tsai’s fortunes were reversed and she kept a decisive hold on the presidency. 

Here we are in 2020 and now it is being said that Johnnie Chiang and the KMT have little chance to gain power. At this point it might seem true, but if Mr. Chiang sets to work with a purpose, all things may very well change in the coming elections. Fate and the Taiwan voters have a way of making things like that happen.

photo: wikimedia commons