官员们周二表示,美国国务卿迈克·蓬佩奥取消了对欧洲的最后一次正式访问,而美国驻联合国特使取消了对台湾的访问,因为美国总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)将在国会面临弹劾投票。
在民主党人乔·拜登1月20日宣誓就职之前,为期两天的欧洲之行将是蓬佩奥作为美国最高外交官的最后一次出访。
美国国务院表示,蓬佩奥将留在华盛顿,以确保向新政府的“平稳有序”过渡。
一名美国官员表示,美国驻联合国大使凯利·克拉夫特取消了原定于周三开始的台湾之行,这与国务院在拜登就职前取消海外之行是一致的。
上周,中国官员表示强烈反对克拉夫特的访问,因为北京方面声称台湾是其领土不可侵犯的一部分,将在必要时通过武力收回,并反对对这个民主岛屿的任何外交承认。
在卢森堡,一名不愿透露姓名的官员告诉法新社,在外交部长让·阿瑟伯恩在对RTL电台的评论中称特朗普为“罪犯”后,蓬佩奥的一段行程被取消。
阿瑟伯恩形容特朗普是一个“政治纵火狂,必须被带上法庭”,因为他的支持者上周袭击了美国国会大厦。
这些取消的访问结束了特朗普统治下动荡的四年外交政策,考验了华盛顿与欧洲传统盟友的关系。
在蓬佩奥计划访问布鲁塞尔期间,他没有被安排会见任何欧盟高级官员。
尽管特朗普的一系列内阁同事辞职,并呼吁因国会大厦袭击事件迫使总统下台,但他仍然坚定地忠于特朗普。
文章来源:法新社
Pompeo And US UN Envoy Scrap Trips To Europe, Taiwan
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cancelled his final official visit to Europe, while Washington's UN envoy scrapped a trip to Taiwan, officials said Tuesday, as President Donald Trump faces an impeachment vote in Congress.
The two-day stay in Europe would have been Pompeo's last foreign trip as Washington's top diplomat before Democrat Joe Biden takes the oath of office on January 20.
The State Department said Pompeo was staying in Washington ensure a "smooth and orderly" transition to the new administration.
The United States' UN ambassador Kelly Craft cancelled her planned trip to Taiwan, due to start Wednesday, in line with the State Department cancelling trips abroad ahead of Biden's inauguration, a US official said.
Last week Chinese officials expressed strong opposition to Craft's trip, as Beijing claims Taiwan as an inviolable part of its territory to be reclaimed, by force if necessary, and opposes any diplomatic recognition of the democratic island.
In Luxembourg, an official told AFP on condition of anonymity that one leg of Pompeo's trip was cancelled after Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn called Trump a "criminal" in comments to RTL radio.
Asselborn described Trump as a "political pyromaniac who must be brought before a court" over last week's attack on the US Capitol by his supporters.
The cancelled trips round off four tumultuous years of foreign policy under Trump that tested relations with Washington's traditional allies in Europe.
Pompeo had not been scheduled to meet any top EU officials during his planned Brussels visit.
He has remained staunchly loyal to Trump despite resignations from a string of his cabinet colleagues and calls to force the president from office over the attack on the Capitol.