US President Donald Trump leaves a news conference on the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC on May 11, 2020. Photo: AFP
The cancellation of all US State Department travel, which was not unexpected, was due to the Trump administration being unwelcome both domestically and internationally, as American political parties and the international community, including Europe, have fully realized its extreme destructive nature, especially that of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Chinese analysts said, adding that Pompeo citing the Biden transition as the reason for the cancellation was only an excuse.
US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft's planned visit to Taiwan island, which has now been cancelled, was a challenge to the bottom line of China-US relations, and Chinese analysts warned that this could still prompt more dangerous and crazy attempts over Taiwan from Pompeo.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that the US State Department cancelled all planned travel this week, including Pompeo's trip to Europe and US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft's visit to Taiwan island.
Pompeo had planned to visit Brussels from Wednesday to Thursday, meeting the NATO Secretary General and Belgian Deputy Prime Minister, while Craft had been due to visit Taiwan from Wednesday to Friday.
A press release by the US Department of State said the cancellation of all travel was due to transition efforts with Joe Biden's incoming team.
However, Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, said that the Trump administration and Pompeo felt that they are unwelcome everywhere, and have overestimated themselves in still believing their allies and American political parties would always quickly back its actions.
European countries do not want to associate themselves with Trump's team, and they do not recognize Trump's crazy diplomatic policy, Li said.
"In fact, the international community, including Europe, as well as many American politicians want the Trump team to leave office as soon as possible," Li told the Global Times on Wednesday.
A separate Reuters report said Luxembourg's foreign minister and top European Union officials had declined to meet with Pompeo, and a diplomatic source said that US' allies were "embarrassed" by Pompeo after the violence in Washington last week.
Diao Damin, an associate professor at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the cancellation of Pompeo's plan was likely due to the fact European leaders declined to meet him, and he had to cancel all plans on the pretext of helping Biden's team with their transition.
Li said that US Democrats and even some Republicans have seen through Pompeo's dangerous path of sacrificing the US' long-term interests for the sake of Taiwan secessionism, and the Trump administration's actions in the last week will result in an increasing restraining effect from US elites and the majority of politicians.
The current desperate actions of the Trump administration revealed the possibility that it will completely sacrifice all US interests in the Asia-Pacific region and leave a political legacy that will make it as difficult as possible for Biden's foreign and domestic policies to achieve results, Li said, noting that Biden and many American politicians will not accept it.
"But we cannot rule out the possibility that the outgoing Trump administration may come up with more desperate, crazy measures over Taiwan," Li said.
Global Times