Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for a renewed international effort to combat China’s religious freedom violations and the repressive surveillance of its own people Monday, while also defending Taiwan’s right to sovereignty.
During remarks delivered at the 2024 International Religious Freedom (IRF) Asia Summit in Tokyo, Pompeo strongly reaffirmed the island nation’s right to autonomy from China, proclaiming it to be “a free, independent, and sovereign nation.” The direct language is likely to anger the Chinese communist regime, which in recent years has escalated its campaign to isolate the democratic state by demanding that the U.S. and other countries rescind statements of support and carrying out a series of increasingly aggressive military sea and air exercises close to Taiwan’s coast and its airspace.
Pompeo encouraged the country not to “kowtow” to China in response to threats, emphasizing that Taiwan “poses zero threat to the people of mainland China.” He further projected optimism in the future, stating that China must “recognize what is in the best interests of its own people — not only economic freedoms but religious freedoms. I am optimistic that we will get there one day. Taiwan is a model for what that looks like.”
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, who China considers a “dangerous separatist,” also addressed the IRF Summit on Monday, describing his nation as “a beacon for religious freedom” that fosters “inclusiveness, religious diversity and interfaith dialogue.” Lai further underscored that his nation “must reaffirm our commitment to freedom and dignity” in the face of “widespread aggression.”
In a sign that Taiwan is taking the sobering reality of Chinese aggression seriously, the government conducted simulated Chinese missile strike drills Tuesday, in which sirens rang out and roads were deserted as people sheltered indoors. Taiwan’s military also conducted war games and live fire drills as part of the exercise. “I hope that we can continue to improve our combat power, not only to reassure the country’s people but also to let the world see our determination to protect the country,” Lai said in a statement.
Taiwan’s efforts to remain independent are becoming increasingly important in light of China’s escalating censorship and surveillance campaign against its own people, Pompeo argued, observing that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is running “a surveillance state that would make the Nazis blush.” He went on to express regret that he was not better able to aid the people of Hong Kong in their fight to maintain their freedoms during his time in the Trump administration. “We could have done better. The U.S. and Britain could have extended the time clock.”
China’s “surveillance state” was explored further on Tuesday during a House Select Committee hearing on the CCP, which focused on exposing how the regime uses the “Great Firewall” and other measures to control its citizens. Following the hearing, Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) joined “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins” to discuss takeaways.
“China continues to rule its own people with an iron fist,” she stressed, with some reports suggesting that the communist regime spends more on internal control of its citizenry than on its military. “The CCP tightly controls all of the information that the Chinese people are able to consume. … [T]his ‘Great Firewall’ that they’ve constructed is not only [a] censorship platform, but it’s a propaganda machine as well. And so they don’t have a free press. Their people are hungry for this information. [T]he key takeaways I have from this is we need to do everything we can as the United States and with our freedom loving allies to figure out new and innovative ways to get that information to them.”
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins went on to observe that the CCP appears to be exporting their surveillance technology to other authoritarian regimes, in part to aid in the suppression of religious minorities.
Hinson concurred. “Brazil, Russia, Iran — these are countries that they have … alliances that are forming out of trade deals, but also out of these technology deals. And then you look at countries that are in trouble. We have a lot of those in Africa, for example, where they’ve been able to come in and not only control ports, but then get this technology out to many rural areas that otherwise might not have access to information. So this could be the latest, greatest thing to some of these communities who have been kind of cut off from the world, but all they’re going to see is the CCP view.”
Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.
