The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is continuing to communicate with the Vatican as the diplomatic ally improves its relations with Beijing, a ministry official said yesterday, after the Global Times on Sunday published an interview with a Vatican cardinal.
The Vatican is one of Taiwan’s 17 allies and the only one in Europe, and the improvement of Vatican-China relations has drawn speculation about a possible change in diplomatic ties.
After the Vatican and China signed a provisional agreement on Sept. 22 last year, “the channels of communication are working well. There are elements which demonstrate an increased trust between the two sides,” Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said in an interview published in the English-language Global Times.
“Of course, not all problems have been resolved. Many questions still need to be addressed and we are facing them with willingness and determination,” Parolin said.
The ministry pays close attention to Vatican-China relations, Department of European Affairs Director-General Johnson Chiang (姜森) told a weekly news conference.
The Holy See has said that its interactions with China are limited to religious affairs, Chiang said, adding that the ministry would continue its dialogue with the Vatican.
Taiwan-Vatican relations are stable and it is the global community’s hope that China would improve its performance in religious freedom and human rights, ministry spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said.
However, Beijing has been tightening its controls on dissidents and minorities, a fact that the Holy See must have noticed, Lee said.
Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs on Monday said on Twitter that the US’ “one China” policy is not equal to Beijing’s “one China” principle, as it retweeted a Global Times report titled “China Slams US bills on Taiwan.”
The US Congress has supported Taiwan for decades and would continue to carry out its commitments under the US’ Taiwan Relations Act in a manner consistent with its “six assurances,” it wrote.
The US has been consistent in its interpretation of “one China,” Lee said when asked for comment.
US representatives across party lines have reaffirmed support for Taiwan with concrete action and language, he said, adding that Taiwan appreciates their help and is continuing to deepen bilateral relations.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching