by Xin Yage

The Taiwanese media gave great air time to Ma Ying-jeou’s participation at Mass for the beginning of Pope Francis’ pontificate and personal encounter with him. No prior agreement between Taipei and Beijing over visit to Rome. A meeting with Merkel and Biden. But without offending China.

Taipei (AsiaNews) - Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou (马英九) and First Lady Christine Chow's (周美青) participation in the inaugural mass of Pope Francis' pontificate in St. Peter's Square is being seen as a success that it also requires caution.

In Taiwan, for days news programs had given ample air time to the Presidents intention to attend the mass. Yesterday the afternoon and evening bulletins broadcast live images with President Ma sitting in the front row during the ceremony.

After Mass, when Pope Francis received the State representatives, Ma became the first president of Taiwan to meet a Pope.

The President and his wife had arrived in Rome on March 17, and attended mass on the 19 at the Vatican, which is the only European country to have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. The island has full diplomatic relations with only 23 countries in the world, although the Taiwanese can now travel to 114 states without a visa.

Ma Ying-jeou said that in the few words exchanged with the pope, he was able to congratulate him and express his gratitude for all that the Church does in Taiwan. In the days before the president had said that he comes from a Catholic family and as a child together with his grandmother often frequented the parish in the district of Wanhua (万 华), Taipei.

He pointed out that the Church has always given a great help to Taiwan, "personally, I learned French and English when I was at university thanks to a nun and a Catholic priest," plus all the humanitarian work for the disabled and the poor carried out by Catholic institutions on the island "is well-known to all Taiwanese."

One sensitive issue concerns the fact that in recent days Beijing had said that the Holy See should "cut off diplomatic relations with Taiwan." In recent years the Government of Ma Ying-jeou has been very cooperative with Beijing and focused on easing tensions that had arisen in previous decades. Both Taipei and Beijing want to continue on this line which brings advantages and development for both sides. The Deputy Foreign Minister Shih Yea-ping (史亚平) said that there were no contacts between Taipei and Beijing regarding Ma Ying-jeou's journey to Rome.

Garfie Li (李佳 霏), spokesman for the president, recalls that on the morning of March 18, while visiting the Taiwanese embassy to the Holy See, Ma Ying-jeou said that the reaction from the Chinese government, "according to some" was less harsh than in the past, however, he pointed out that every call from the Chinese leadership "should not be taken lightly" and that Taiwan should always be cautious in its relations with the continent in a constructive manner. In this sense, he explicitly mentioned the "three lines of national defense" (三 道 防线 维护 国家 安全): institutionalized relations with China (将 两岸 关系 制度化) soft power (台湾 必须 透过 经济 与 外交) and international support (透过 外交 与 国防 的 结合).

Yesterday, on the late evening news the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Calvin Ho (何震寰) pointed out that the opportunity to participate in the inaugural Mass of the pontificate, was also an occasion for Ma Ying-jeou to meet many diplomats and foreign heads of state during the period of his stay in Rome. In addition, on the face to face meeting with Pope Francis, the television images focused importantly on Ma Ying-jeou and his wife while they were talking with Angela Merkel and Vice President Joe Biden.

 

• TAIWAN-CHINA-VATICAN
• pope
• francis
• inauguration
• mass