"Every world leader," said Pompeo, also a former CIA director, witnessed the "debacle" of the U.S. withdrawal and "saw an America that wasn't prepared to do the basic blocking and tackling, something that it was fully capable of doing to protect its people and its interests.
"When they see that — that absence of resolve — I think it increases the likelihood that Xi Jinping will make an aggressive attempt to do what he has long wanted to do, which is to bring Taiwan back inside of the Chinese orbit." Pompeo, who has alluded to a run for the 2024 presidency on the Republican ticket, added that "there is little doubt in my mind that Xi Jinping senses weakness from an American administration."
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According to the New York Post, President Joe Biden and Xi are poised to meet in person in November.
The U.S. should give Taiwan "every tool" it needs to stop a Chinese invasion, according to former Secretary of State and potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate Mike Pompeo, who says an "absence of resolve" in President Biden's foreign policy has prompted aggression from adversaries around the world.
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Hostile regimes — especially Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela — sense weakness and are keen to capitalize, Mr. Pompeo said over the weekend. He suggested that the art of great-power deterrence that has long undergirded America's global posture has all but lost by the wayside over the past two years.
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"Deterrence depends on both capabilities and intention, and the administration has not shown the intention to protect the things that matter," Mr. Pompeo told The Washington Times in a wide-ranging interview during a visit to South Korea, where he appeared at an event promoting deeper U.S. engagement in the Pacific.
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Although he avoided the question of whether he will run for president — saying "only the Lord knows" — Mr. Pompeo said he will do everything he can to secure a Republican victory in the congressional midterm elections.
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He showed concern that national security agencies, including the FBI, are under assault from a "political mindset" that threatens to undermine the core mission of protecting Americans.
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