President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday stood among his counterparts from other countries in St Peter’s Square to attend Pope Francis’ inauguration Mass.
Ma and first lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青) sat in one of the rows reserved for heads of state. On Ma’s right was Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla, while Chilean President Sebastian Pinera was on Chow’s left.
Aside from the five-person Taiwanese delegation led by Ma, others in the VIP section included German Chancellor Angela Merkel, US Vice President Joe Biden, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, Prince Albert of Monaco and Bahraini Prince Sheik Abdullah bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
Photo: AFP
Prior to the ceremony, Ma was seen having a brief exchange with other heads of state, including Merkel and Biden.
After the Mass, Ma and Chow offered their congratulations to Francis during a brief audience.
The Vatican is Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally in Europe. The two countries have maintained diplomatic ties since 1942.
Photo: EPA
Ministry of Foreign Affairs deputy spokesman Calvin Ho (何震寰) said that while the purpose of Ma’s visit was to attend the inaugural Mass, he would not rule out unofficial interaction with other world leaders, especially since Ma is staying at the same hotel as many of them.
The first couple arrived in Rome on Monday and toured the Vatican Museums and St Paul’s Cathedral before visiting the Taipei Representative Office in Italy. In the evening, Ma and the first lady hosted a dinner for the clergy and Taiwanese expatriates living in Italy, as well as for a Catholic delegation from Taiwan.
Ma said that the Republic of China and the Holy See have long cooperated in religious and humanitarian fields, adding that bilateral ties are progressing continually.
The last time a Taiwanese president visited the Vatican was in 2005, when then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) attended the funeral of pope John Paul II.
At the time, an incensed Beijing refused to send a representative to the funeral and filed a protest with Italy for issuing Chen a visa.
This time, China appeared to again be boycotting the inauguration because of Taiwan’s presence, but the Vatican has emphasized it did not send out specific invitations to any countries.
“No one is privileged, no one is refused, everyone is welcome if they say they are coming,” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said.
Li Xiaoyong, spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Rome, said: “There will be no delegation from China. China has expressed its congratulations.”
Bernardo Cervellera, the Rome director of AsiaNews, said the Chinese reaction was “like a broken record — it masks the fact that they do not really know what to do.”
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
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