Former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) in the Vatican on Sunday said that he would strive to make more friends, and let the world know about Taiwan’s adherence to freedom and democracy, despite the grave challenges facing the nation.
Chen arrived in the Holy See on Saturday to attend yesterday’s beatification ceremony for Pope John Paul I as President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) special envoy.
The Vatican is Taiwan’s sole European ally.
Photo: CNA
Chen yesterday said he met with Pope Francis before the ceremony.
He said he relayed Tsai’s greetings to the pope and asked him to pray for Taiwanese.
Francis in response smiled and asked him to pray together for world peace, Chen said.
Photo provided by the Taiwanese Embassy to the Holy See
He said he also presented the pope with a book that documented the work of Catholic missionaries in Taiwan.
Chen is heading a delegation of six people comprising his staff, a security detail and his wife, Lo Fong-ping (羅鳳蘋), the Presidential Office said.
Upon the delegation’s arrival in Rome on Saturday, Chen visited the Taiwanese Embassy to the Holy See, where he praised the nation’s diplomats stationed in the Vatican.
Photo provided by the Taiwanese Embassy to the Holy See
He also visited a calligraphy and painting exhibition, titled “Friendly Taiwan meets Fratelli tutti,” celebrating 80 years of diplomatic relations between Taiwan and the Holy See.
Chen and his wife are today to attend Mass at Saint Sophia Cathedral, the office said. The couple also plan to make official visits to the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Caritas Internationalis, and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to engage with the church and affiliated organizations on issues surrounding Taiwan’s participation in international humanitarian efforts.
Chen is the second Taiwanese to be named a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the first to be appointed to its council.
He is to attend a meeting of the council and a gathering of academics from Wednesday to Saturday, which Pope Francis is also expected to attend.
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS