President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday joined more than 200 state and religious leaders and a multitude of mourners in St. Peter's Square to bid a final farewell to Pope John Paul II.
Unlike seating arrangements at other international events, where heads of state are seated in alphabetical order by country, world leaders attending the ceremony yesterday were to be seated according to the number of years the country had diplomatic ties with the Holy See.
Chen therefore sat in one of the front rows for heads of state. His attendance at the pontiff's funeral gave Taiwan a rare opportunity to raise its visibility on the world stage.
PHOTO: CNA
According to a list compiled by the BBC of world leaders who attended the papal ceremony, Chen was listed as "Taiwan's President" among the heads of state from the Asia-Pacific region.
Four kings, five queens, at least 70 presidents and prime ministers and more than 14 leaders of other religions were to take part in the ceremony alongside the faithful.
Chen had a brief exchange with US President George W. Bush and former US president Bill Clinton prior to the ceremony, according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Michel Lu (
Chen arrived at Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Rome at about 2am yesterday after a 15-hour flight from Taipei.
Taiwan's ambassador to the Holy See Tou Chou-seng (
Upon his arrival, Chen expressed his gratitude to the Italian government for issuing visas to his delegation that made the trip to the Vatican possible.
"The Italian government's assistance highlights the historical significance of this trip, which is characterized by peace and the giving of condolences," he said.
Chen and other members of the delegation were then led to a VIP room at the airport before being escorted by a police motorcade to Rome's Westin Excelsior Hotel.
After the funeral, Chen shook hands with Clinton once more before leaving for his next stop at the nation's embassy in the Holy See.
Chen was to complete his stay with a quick sightseeing tour in the vicinity of Vatican City before heading for the airport.
Chen is due to return to Taipei today at 3pm.
Chen's brief attendance at the papal funeral yesterday marked the first time a president from Taiwan has visited the Holy See since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1942.
The visit also marked Chen as the first president from Taiwan to ever set foot in a European country.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
RSS