Kaohsiung, the Taiwanese port coveted by Beijing

IHe is unrecognizable since he lost 40 kilos. Mike Pompeo, former director of the CIA and head of diplomacy under Donald Trump, gives his second major speech of the year in Taiwan at the end of September. “If we want a XXI^e free century, and not a Chinese century, the one Xi Jinping dreams of, we must put an end to the old paradigm of blind cooperation [avec la Chine] », he preaches to an audience of Taiwanese businessmen and international decision-makers. During his previous trip, in March, to the capital Taipei, he had broken a taboo: to call for recognition of Taiwan’s independence. Since 1949, the island has governed itself, much to the chagrin of communist China, which considers it a “rebel province”. For Xi Jinping, the recognition of Taiwanese independence…