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Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called upon the United States to recognize Taiwan as an independent nation during his visit to the island off the coast of China.
On Thursday, Pompeo publicly declared that the U.S. government should take the “long-overdue” step and recognize the freedom of Taiwan.
“It is my view that the U.S. government should immediately take necessary, and long-overdue, steps to do the right and obvious thing, that is to offer the Republic of China (Taiwan) America’s diplomatic recognition as a free and sovereign country,” Pompeo said in a statement.
Pompeo said this would be a recognition of an already “existent reality.”
“This is not about Taiwan’s future independence, it is about recognizing an unmistakable, already existent reality,” asserted Pompeo. ” That reality is this, as many of your past and present leaders have made clear, there is no need for Taiwan to declare independence because it’s already an independent country.”
“Its name is the Republic of China (Taiwan),” he continued. “The people and government of the United States should simply recognize this political, diplomatic, and sovereignty reality. The Taiwanese people deserve the world’s respect for a free, democratic, and sovereign country.”