Pompeo Set Taiwan's Coordinates—Today's Chip War, the Political Script Was Written Two Years Ago
In July 2020, Pompeo did two things.
First, he issued the "South China Sea Declaration," and second, he delivered the "New Iron Curtain" speech at the Nixon Presidential Library. The former marked the beginning of a new Cold War between the US and China, while the latter was a condemnation of the Chinese Communist Party.
During that period, he only said one thing about Taiwan:
"Taiwan has never been a part of China, and this has been the consensus of both the American government and people since the Reagan era!"
Five years have passed. Today, we constantly read about TSMC's move to the US, Arizona's 2-nanometer process, the CHIPS Act, and US-China tech decoupling—the political coordinates for these news stories were set that year.
In May 2021, amidst the peak of the global pandemic, I conducted an overseas exclusive interview with Pompeo.
This was the first time in history that a US Secretary of State granted an exclusive interview to a Taiwanese media outlet. For this 20-minute interview, I prepared for over two years. Starting in the summer of 2019, I flew to Washington D.C. every quarter, deeply cultivating relationships with three core Republican think tanks—the Hudson Institute, the Heritage Foundation, and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies—as they served as crucial conduits to the White House. At the same time, I did not overlook the Democratic Party's stronghold, the Brookings Institution. During this period, I personally traveled to Washington D.C. several times for face-to-face meetings, which included a background check by the State Department.
More than two years of effort were all for that precious "admission ticket." Without it, it would have been impossible for a Taiwanese person to personally interview a US Secretary of State about Taiwan.
Who is Pompeo? He graduated from West Point at the top of his class, holds a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard University, served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and was later appointed as the 70th United States Secretary of State by President Trump, holding the position of America's chief diplomat and ranking fourth in the presidential line of succession.
I have interviewed over a dozen world-class national leaders, and from that, I've learned one thing: the focus of observation should not only be on titles but more on the "wavelength" of compatibility. During President Trump's first term, Pompeo and Trump were "on the same frequency and wavelength"; in contrast, the former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Trump did not get along, ultimately leading to Trump replacing him with a tweet "without even a goodbye." This also confirms that the steadfastness of Taiwan policy often depends on whether the person in that position can maintain a high degree of consistency with the president.
Those two declarations in July 2020 were the turning point where the US shifted its China policy from "engagement" to "confrontation." Pompeo was unequivocal about Taiwan's position on this new coordinate axis.
Everything that followed stemmed from this line: TSMC's $165 billion investment in Arizona, the relocation of the N2 process to US soil, the ongoing debate over CHIPS Act subsidies and tariffs, and Nvidia's chips being blocked by export controls—these appear to be industry news, financial reports, but at their core, they are all subsequent actions on the confrontation coordinate axis established in 2020 and 2021. Events keep changing, but the coordinates have not moved.
During that interview, I did one thing—I personally asked him to help Taiwan get vaccines as soon as possible.
At that moment, "I was actually very emotional." I spoke up for Taiwan, not because I was interviewing an important figure, but because I wanted Taiwan to be seen and heard by the world.
After the interview, I asked him about the possibility of visiting Taiwan and also followed up on whether a deeper, face-to-face conversation could be arranged?
He replied with two words: "It's done!" A promise made is a promise kept!
Having interviewed international leaders for twenty years, I've learned one thing: keep an eye on the coordinates, don't get sidetracked by events. News will tell you what happened today; to see where tomorrow is heading, you need to know who drew that coordinate, in what year, and with what statement.
So when everyone is still asking "Is TSMC going to the US good or bad for Taiwan?", I see something else—this step falls on the line Pompeo drew in 2020.