TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has denied knowledge of two supposedly secret phone calls to Chinese General Li Zuocheng — as claimed by U.S. General Mark Milley.
The calls were said to have been made by Milley to the top commander of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Oct. 30, 2020, and Jan. 8, 2021, to assure him the U.S. "was not going to suddenly go to war." The calls were initiated following "concerning intelligence, which caused us to believe the Chinese were worried about an attack on them by the U.S.,” said Milley at a congressional hearing on Tuesday (Sept. 28).
Milley said that Pompeo and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows knew about the calls. The claim was quickly denied by Pompeo on "The Megyn Kelly Show" on Sept. 30.
"I can promise you that chief Meadows would have called me and said that we have a problem here," if he knew of the call, Pompeo said. He added that he would be very surprised if that's what Milley told his Chinese counterpart and that it would be "deeply inconsistent" with his role.
Pompeo described the calls as "making no tactical, operational and strategic sense to tell the Chinese ... because we did not warn our adversary."
Earlier this year, the Taiwan-friendly politician said the U.S. "must stand with Taiwan," following an incursion by 19 Chinese military aircraft that penetrated Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in early September.