President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will this afternoon board a charter plane for the Vatican City to join world leaders attending Pope John Paul II's funeral on Friday, the Presidential Office said last night.
The trip to Vatican City will mark the first time ever that a Taiwan president has made a visit to an European country.
According to Presidential Office spokesman Chen Wen-tsung (
Chen plans to stay in Vatican City for no more than 24 hours, and is scheduled to leave Rome on Friday night, the spokesman said, adding that the exact time is yet to be finalized.
When asked if any other activities will be included in the visit, the spokesman said, "President Chen wishes to simplify the visit. The main purpose of the visit is to pay tribute to the late Pope on behalf of Taiwan and its 23 million people."
"President Chen expressed gratitude for the Holy See's invitation as well as to the Italian government for granting him the visa," the spokesman said.
The Holy See is Taiwan's only diplomatic ally in Europe. To get to the Vatican City, however, Chen would need to travel through Italy, which has diplomatic ties with China.
According to a report from the Central News Agency, it said that at approximate 5pm yesterday afternoon, the Italian government had granted a visa to President Chen and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (
Given that US President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and many other world leaders are expected to attend the papal funeral, Chen's presence may provide an unprecedented opportunity for him to rub shoulders with these world leaders.
Along with the foreign minister, Chen's delegation will include Taipei Grand Mosque Imam Ma Shiao-chi (
The 50-member group will also include Presidential aids, a bodyguard and Presidential Office staff, the spokesman said.
According to a CNA report, Chen will reside at Rome's Westin Excelsior Hotel during his stay, although the spokesman declined to confirm the report.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft