Pope Benedict XVI met with visiting Master Hsing Yun (
During the meeting, Benedict XVI expressed his best regards for the Taiwanese and said he would pray for them. The pope also said that he would visit Taiwan if the chance arose.
Hsing Yun arrived in Rome on Tuesday.
In the company of Taiwanese Ambassador to the Vatican Tu Chou-sheng (杜筑生), the Buddhist master extended his respects to the pope on behalf of Taiwan's Buddhists and invited the leader of the Roman Catholic world to visit Taiwan.
Referring to himself as a "pilgrim," Hsing Yun said he hoped the visit would help to boost mutual understanding and cooperation between Buddhists and Catholics.
In a separate gathering with a group of overseas Chinese, Hsing Yun predicted that some day, when China becomes a rich country, it may "eat up Taiwan."
Taiwan has cringed at the idea of unifying with China because of its perceived poverty, he said.
"Now China is becoming richer and richer, and some day in the future it would not be incredible that it might eat up Taiwan as the ideas of inequality, such as rich and poor and big and small, are involved here," Hsing Yun said.
Sharing his experience in putting one's mind at ease, Hsing Yun said there were several ways of doing so, but that such fundamental principles as love, tolerance, cherishing what one has and making friends with all would always be important, no matter what approach one took to "finding a home for one's mind."
He said that a sense of equality was important because only by treating all living beings and all systems of belief equally would peace and harmony prevail in the world.
For that same reason, he said he would advise Taiwanese not to look down on their poorer neighbors in China, who may in the future grow rich enough to "bring Taiwan into its fold."
Hsing Yun founded the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Monastery in 1967 in southern Taiwan, which has since then evolved to become the largest Buddhist monastery in the country.
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
SUPPORT: Arms sales to NATO Plus countries such as Japan, South Korea and Israel only have to be approved by the US Congress if they exceed US$25m The US should amend a law to add Taiwan to the list of “NATO Plus” allies and streamline future arms sales, a US commission said on Tuesday in its annual report to the US Congress. The recommendation was made in the annual report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), which contained chapters on US-China economic and trade ties, security relations, and Taiwan and Hong Kong. In the chapter on Taiwan, the commission urged the US Congress to “amend the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 to include Taiwan on the list of ‘NATO Plus’ recipients,” referring to
MEET AND GREET: The White House, which called the interaction ‘just a handshake,’ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Biden planned to visit Taiwan’s envoy to the APEC summit, Lin Hsin-i (林信義), on Friday invited US President Joe Biden to visit Taiwan. During the APEC Leaders’ Informal Dialogue, Lin, who represented President William Lai (賴清德) at the summit, spoke with Biden and expressed gratitude to the outgoing US president for his contribution to improving bilateral ties between Taipei and Washington over the past four years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Lin and Biden exchanged views during the conversation, with Lin extending an invitation to Biden to visit Taiwan, it said. Biden is to step down in January next year, when US president-elect Donald Trump is
RSS