The Dalai Lama has accepted an invitation to visit the victims of Typhoon Morakot in southern Taiwan at the end of this month, a Kaohsiung City Government official said yesterday.
Asked about the visit, the Presidential Office told the Taipei Times it had “no comment." Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said the Presidential Office needed to gain a better understanding of the matter.
The Tibetan spiritual leader had expressed his desire to visit Taiwan last November, but President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said then that “the timing isn't appropriate.”
Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) said late last night that the government would evaluate the situation once the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission has received the official application.
When the Dalai Lama first visited Taiwan in 1997, the administration of then president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) granted him visa-free privilege.
Hsu Li-ming (許立明), director-general of the city government's Information Office, said the Dalai Lama would arrive on Monday at the invitation of seven local government chiefs in the south.
During his six-day stay in southern Taiwan, the Dalai Lama will deliver speeches and visit the areas affected by Typhoon Morakot to comfort the victims of the disaster, Hsu said.
In a press release, the city government said the Dalai Lama was very glad to be able to comfort the victims, adding that he understood the pain of the victims because he once saw his people living in northern India suffer from mudslides.
The spiritual leader said he was very concerned about Morakot's aftermath in Taiwan because Taiwanese had given so much support to Tibetans in exile in India, the city government said.
“The Dalai Lama is not only the spiritual leader of Tibet, but also a religious leader. He also embodies love and peace and has comforted billions of souls over the years,” the city government said. “We believe the Dalai Lama's visit will help the victims get back on their feet.”
The city government's Information Office added that the Dalai Lama's office would apply for a Taiwanese visa, but whether he would be allowed to visit would depend on the central government.
Dawa Tsering, a representative of the Tibetan government in exile, yesterday confirmed that the Dalai Lama had accepted the invitation extended by Taiwanese local government chiefs on Monday. He added that the Dalai Lama might travel to Taiwan as soon as this weekend if it was convenient for Taiwan.
“The Dalai Lama was saddened to see the homes destroyed by mudslides in Taiwan and would love to come to Taiwan if his visit could give the victims some comfort,” Dawa said.
“[When he will visit] depends on when it would be convenient for Taiwan,” he said. “So far, we haven't heard anything from the Taiwanese government.”
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Daniel Hwang (黃義交) said it was “inappropriate” for the Dalai Lama to visit Taiwan now, adding that his visit might upset China.
KMT Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) criticized the government chiefs who invited the Dalai Lama, saying that cross-strait relations would be seriously affected by the spiritual leader's visit.
“Don't they think we have enough disasters?” Chiu said.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦), on the other hand, said the party welcomed the visit of the Dalai Lama and urged Ma not to bow down to Beijing by refusing the Dalai Lama a visa.
Cheng said DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) would participate in prayer services the Tibetan leader is expected to lead.
DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said the public should welcome the Dalai Lama because of the humanitarian nature of his trip.
“I hope the government would not politicize his visit,” he said. “Disaster relief should transcend political division.”
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY LOA IOK-SIN, KO SHU-LING AND JENNY W. HSU
AGING: As of last month, people aged 65 or older accounted for 20.06 percent of the total population and the number of couples who got married fell by 18,685 from 2024 Taiwan has surpassed South Korea as the country least willing to have children, with an annual crude birthrate of 4.62 per 1,000 people, Ministry of the Interior data showed yesterday. The nation was previously ranked the second-lowest country in terms of total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime. However, South Korea’s fertility rate began to recover from 2023, with total fertility rate rising from 0.72 and estimated to reach 0.82 to 0.85 by last year, and the crude birthrate projected at 6.7 per 1,000 people. Japan’s crude birthrate was projected to fall below six,
US President Donald Trump in an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday said that “it’s up to” Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be “very unhappy” with a change in the “status quo.” “He [Xi] considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing, but I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that. I hope he doesn’t do that,” Trump said. Trump made the comments in the context
SELF-DEFENSE: Tokyo has accelerated its spending goal and its defense minister said the nation needs to discuss whether it should develop nuclear-powered submarines China is ramping up objections to what it sees as Japan’s desire to acquire nuclear weapons, despite Tokyo’s longstanding renunciation of such arms, deepening another fissure in the two neighbors’ increasingly tense ties. In what appears to be a concerted effort, China’s foreign and defense ministries issued statements on Thursday condemning alleged remilitarism efforts by Tokyo. The remarks came as two of the country’s top think tanks jointly issued a 29-page report framing actions by “right-wing forces” in Japan as posing a “serious threat” to world peace. While that report did not define “right-wing forces,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was
PREPAREDNESS: Given the difficulty of importing ammunition during wartime, the Ministry of National Defense said it would prioritize ‘coproduction’ partnerships A newly formed unit of the Marine Corps tasked with land-based security operations has recently replaced its aging, domestically produced rifles with more advanced, US-made M4A1 rifles, a source said yesterday. The unnamed source familiar with the matter said the First Security Battalion of the Marine Corps’ Air Defense and Base Guard Group has replaced its older T65K2 rifles, which have been in service since the late 1980s, with the newly received M4A1s. The source did not say exactly when the upgrade took place or how many M4A1s were issued to the battalion. The confirmation came after Chinese-language media reported
RSS