Pompeo congratulates Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen for re-election

Washington, United States

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took to Twitter to congratulate Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-Wen on her re-election as the island’s first female leader.

''Her re-election by a huge margin shows that she has earned the respect, admiration, and trust of the people on Taiwan,'' Pompeo said in his statement released ahead of the ceremony.

''Her courage and vision in leading Taiwan’s vibrant democracy is an inspiration to the region and the world. As we look toward the future, I am confident that, with President Tsai at the helm, our partnership with Taiwan will continue to flourish.''

While China views Tsai as a separatist, bent on formal independence for Taiwan, Pompeo reportedly said that recent COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity for the international community to see why Taiwan’s pandemic-response model is worthy of emulation.

His remarks were read aloud at the ceremony on Wednesday, ahead of Tsai’s inauguration speech in which she vowed to defend the island from threats, and said it would not accept Beijing’s ''one country, two systems'' proposal for cross-strait unification.

She said that Taiwan will seek to ‘actively participate’ in international bodies and deepen its cooperation with ''like-minded countries''.

Beijing’s proposal would downgrade Taiwan and undermine the cross-strait status quo, she added.

Meanwhile, as Taiwan had been seeking to join a ministerial meeting this month of the WHO’s decision-making body, the organisation had locked Taiwan out, at China’s request.