Pompeo: Xi Watching US 'Weakness' in Ukraine While Deciding on Taiwan

Chinese President Xi Jinping is watching the United States "get rolled" by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine and observing whether it is willing to help its allies, and if Taiwan doesn't get American support to protect itself, it will "only embolden him" to act against the smaller nation, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Sunday. 

"The Biden administration has been behind since last summer," Pompeo told Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo," speaking after his trip to Taiwan and Singapore last week.

"We have known for months that Vladimir Putin was building forces and building capability. We should have been helping the Ukrainians."

There is still "enormous hesitation" from the administration to help Ukraine, and the world can see the weakness that is being shown by being behind and allowing Putin to drive the agenda, he added, and that is "unexplainable."

He also said President Joe Biden, when campaigning and coming to office, had a top priority of climate change and was prepared to work with Putin and "all comers if they could get someone to shut down a coal-fired plant."

But Putin understands "hard power" and "real strength," said Pompeo, while the administration was talking about things that are "ephemeral, temporary, and weak."

Even when Russian hackers shut down the Colonial Pipeline last year, Biden did not do much in retaliation beyond to say "don't do that again," said Pompeo. 

"That was not a serious response that Putin would respect," he said. "You can see he is ratcheting up the pressure. His objectives have not changed."

And this means that Putin will "continue this assault until he sees a United States that is prepared to help the Ukrainians defend themselves in a serious way," said Pompeo. 

Meanwhile, with Taiwan, the United States should be "doing the things that we failed to do last summer" for Ukraine, he continued. 

"Everybody knows they have never been part of Communist China," said Pompeo. "They don't want to be…we should work diligently to provide weapons to the Taiwanese. They are prepared to do the hard work themselves. They will need support from the United States and Japan, South Korea."

Xi, Putin added, "has made clear his intention to unify with Taiwan."

"With what tools, tactics, and timing, it is difficult to know," said Pompeo. "I only know this. It is not predetermined that he will be successful at that…[Taiwan] is an independent nation. They know it, the world knows it. We need to provide them with the tools they need to maintain their own sovereignty."

Further, the United States should also give Ukraine "every tool that they need to defend themselves," said Pompeo. 

"They have shown they know how to execute against the Russian military," he said. "We need to make sure that Vladimir Putin knows that it comes at the bloodshed of their military and the cost back home."

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