US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Photo/Agencies

On Tuesday, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo appeared in China's Taipei. Having delivered a speech, he said that the era of "blind engagement" with China is ending, and that "Beijing's increasingly aggressive behavior has brought like-minded nations closer together".

It seems that the retiree is even more daring than when he was in office. While carrying the title of US secretary of state, Pompeo dared only to challenge China by fabricating some rumors, since leaving office he has become bold enough to call Taiwan "already independent".

Now he has went a step further by uttering the "end of an era" words. Apparently, after leaving office, Pompeo is no longer bound by the regulations of the US government, so he could exert all his potentials in ruining his nation's relationship with China, although that relationship's importance to their country can never be overestimated.

Besides, as a member of the losing team in the 2020 election, Pompeo feels the pressing need to make his words so radical as to remind the world that he still exists. When he served as chief of the Central Intelligence Agency, he had the famous quote "We lie, we cheat, we steal" and has earned the reputation as the King of Disinformation. Now he continues following that creed, which was embodied into his life by his experience in the CIA.

In one word, Pompeo is putting his own selfish interests over that of his country. Pompeo needs to be told that the era of China-Western engagement is not ending and that the two sides will continue playing their respective roles in global politics.

But Pompeo's era has long come to an end. He has long been removed from the position of US Secretary of State, his influences long lost, himself abandoned by both US voters and his boss. He is now nobody but a so-called "researcher", and there are plenty such "researchers" who talk nonsense.

It is time for him to recognize that.