US State Department Cancels All Overseas Travel for Staff... Ambassador to the UN Also Cancels Taiwan Visit (Comprehensive)
Secretary Pompeo's Europe Visit and Ambassador Kraft's Taiwan Trip to UN Canceled Together
Reason: Biden Administration Transition Support
Kelly Craft, United States Ambassador to the United Nations
Photo by EPA Yonhap News
[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has canceled his previously announced visits to Belgium and Luxembourg. This is believed to be due to overlapping concerns over President Donald Trump's impeachment and potential violence related to the inauguration. The much-noticed visit to Taiwan by Kelly Craft, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, was also canceled as a result.
On the 12th (local time), the U.S. State Department announced the cancellation of all overseas trips by State Department staff scheduled for this week. Pompeo's itinerary was included among the cancellations.
According to the Associated Press, this decision was made less than 24 hours after Pompeo announced his visit to Brussels, Belgium.
Pompeo was scheduled to visit Belgium on the 13th. He planned to meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Belgian leaders.
This visit was to be Pompeo's last overseas trip before the end of the Trump administration's term.
Various interpretations have emerged regarding this move. One is that it would be difficult for the Secretary of State to be absent while impeachment proceedings against President Trump are underway. Another is that with concerns about violence ahead of President Biden's inauguration on the 20th, it was deemed difficult for Pompeo to be away.
Pompeo had also planned a visit to South Korea last October but canceled it due to President Trump's COVID-19 infection.
Kelly Craft, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, also canceled her planned visit to Taiwan. Craft was scheduled to visit Taiwan from the 13th to the 15th. This means the Trump administration lost its last opportunity to provoke China before the end of its term.
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On the 9th, Pompeo announced that the State Department would lift restrictions on contact with Taiwanese counterparts imposed on diplomats, military personnel, and other officials. China strongly opposed this, stating it violated the One-China principle.
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