Both the Taiwanese and the mainland Chinese will benefit from the United States lifting restrictions on contacts with Taiwan, former secretary of state Mike Pompeo says.

Controls on communication between American and Taiwanese diplomats were eased earlier this year, in the final days of Pompeo’s tenure under the administration of Donald Trump.

Washington had decided to hold more open conversations with Taipei instead of clandestine talks, Pompeo told Taiwan’s Central News Agency.

“I think this benefits people on mainland China, I think this benefits people in Taiwan, I think it’s better for the entire region and the world that the United States is prepared to have these conversations without these silly administrative restrictions that literally made no sense,” he said.

On the possibility of a visit to Taiwan, Pompeo said it was inconvenient for him to comment, but added that it would be “a real treat” to travel to the island.

Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said it would welcome a visit by Pompeo, although there were no plans at the moment. It thanked him for strengthening relations between Taiwan and the U.S. during his term.

During the interview, Pompeo also said it was too early to comment on his successor, Antony Blinken. He noted that Blinken had spoken about genocide in the Chinese region of Xinjiang and applauded the latter for building on his work, saying he hoped Blinken would do even better.

Pompeo said he was confident that policies he had set during his term were truly bipartisan, including sanctions on Hong Kong.

The former secretary of state came across as urging the current U.S. administration of Joe Biden to capitalize on opportunities that arose after restrictions on contacts with Taiwan were lifted, commentator Sang Pu said.

His raising of a potential visit to Taiwan showed that he held different opinions from Biden over Washington’s policy on the island, the commentator said.

Upcoming talks in Alaska between Blinken and top Chinese diplomats Yang Jiechi and Wang Yi would not result in anything but each side speaking on its own, Sang Pu said. The key agenda of the talks was about reducing sanctions, measures under the U.S.-China trade war, and Washington’s position on Taiwan, he added.

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