Press Release

Legislative Yuan

March 4, 2022

Evening Banquet in Honor of the Hon. Mike Pompeo,

70th US Secretary of State

President You Si-kun:

The people of Taiwan will never forget your support for Taiwan

On the evening of March 4th, Legislative Yuan President You Si-kun and Mme. You, accompanied by Vice President Tsai Chi-chan and Mme. Tsai, Democratic Progressive Party Caucus Whip Ker Chien-ming, Kuomintang Party Caucus Whip Tseng Ming-chung, Taiwan People’s Party Caucus Whip Chiu Chen-yuan, New Power Party Caucus Whip Chiu Hsien-chih, and Secretary General Lin Jih-jia and Mme. Lin, hosted a banquet in honor of the Hon. Mike Pompeo, 70th US Secretary of State and Mme. Susan Pompeo, former senior China policy and planning advisor Miles Yu, and Ji Richardson, Executive Director at the Championing American Values Policy Action Committee.

In his remarks, President You praised Mr. Pompeo for playing a key role in pushing for the normalization of Taiwan’s international relations. He offered special thanks to Mr. Pompeo for the significant progress made with regards to Taiwan-US relations during his time as US Secretary of State, namely through the five acts, Six Assurances, and three communiques under the new “one China” policy framework, and also for greatly elevating Taiwan’s status in the international community and for furthering substantive bilateral relations. In particular, Mr. Pompeo has openly stated that Taiwan and the PRC are not subordinate to the other, thereby acting as a beacon in the oft-muddied waters of international affairs.

President You went on to mention Mr. Pompeo’s Facebook post of the same morning, which clearly stated the fact of Taiwan’s existence and its status quo. President You looks forward to Mr. Pompeo’s continued influence in supporting Taiwan—together with the United States and the entire world—to help safeguard both Indo-Pacific security and global democracy.

At the commencement of the banquet, President You presented Mr. Pompeo with a Legislative Yuan gavel, while Vice President Tsai gave him pineapple cakes and a facemask celebrating Taiwan-US Friendship and Mr. Pompeo’s visit to Taiwan.

President You’s full welcome remarks are as follows:

Mr. Pompeo, Mme. Pompeo, Dr. You, Mr. Richardson, Deputy Speaker Tsai and Mme. Tsai, Secretary General Lin and Mme. Lin, party whips, dear colleagues: Good evening!

Firstly, on behalf of the Legislative Yuan, I extend my sincere welcome to Mr. and Mrs. Pompeo and all our distinguished guests.

Mr. Pompeo, you have played a major role in enhancing Taiwan-US relations and striving for the normalization of Taiwan’s international relations. It is therefore with immense honor that I welcome you here today.

I especially want to thank you for the great strides made in Taiwan-US relations during your time as US Secretary of State. You have greatly elevated Taiwan’s status in the international community with bipartisan Congressional support. Building on the foundation of the Taiwan Relations Act and the Taiwan Travel Act, in the course of your three-year tenure starting April 26, 2018, you promoted the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018, the Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative Act of 2019, and the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020. A new “one China” policy subsequently took shape, with the one act and three communiques of the former policy being superseded by these five acts, the Six Assurances, and three communiques.

Under this new “one China” policy framework, the US has adopted numerous measures to deepen bilateral relations. Among the more well-known of these have been the normalization of arms sales, the renaming of the Coordination Council for North American Affairs to the Taiwan Council for US Affairs, and a policy allowing for the use of “Taiwan” in declaring a previous nationality on US naturalization forms and on US-issued certificates. Of particular note, on November 12, 2020, in your capacity as Secretary of State, you publicly stated that “Taiwan has never been a part of China,” clearly pointing out that Taiwan and the PRC are not subordinate to the other. This served as a bright beacon in the oft-muddied waters of international affairs. Likewise, after the Taiwan Assurance Act entered into force on December 27, 2020, you removed a key obstacle to official Taiwan-US interactions through the immediate lifting of all self-imposed restrictions on contact between US officials and their Taiwanese counterparts. This has allowed Taiwanese and US officials to attend the same events and meet publicly and represents a breakthrough in Taiwan-US relations.

Mr. Pompeo, you stand as a giant among men in advancing the cause of democracy and freedom globally, and you are a dear friend to Taiwan. Your Facebook post this morning said that “the US 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” and that “[the] reality is that, 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.” In doing so, you rightly highlighted the fact of Taiwan’s existence and its status quo. The people of Taiwan will never forget your friendship. I ask you to continue to strengthen Taiwan-US relations so that, together, we can work for Indo-Pacific security and freedom and democracy around the world.