While Taiwan’s ties with all 12 countries it has official diplomatic relations with are relatively stable, “extra attention” needs to be paid to Haiti and the Vatican, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said.
During an interview with an online political talk show on Sunday, Lin said that Haiti has been rocked by gang violence and social unrest since former Haitian president Jovenel Moise was assassinated in July 2021.
However, Lin said that Taiwan continues to stand with Haiti and was one of the last nations to close its embassy during the unrest.
Photo: Reuters
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has placed high importance on Latin America and the Caribbean since taking office, he said.
“So I believe Taiwan and the US can work together in this regard,” he added.
Lin said the Holy See has been pushing for closer relations with China during Pope Francis’ tenure.
The Holy See is the only sovereign European entity that has official diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (ROC), the official name of Taiwan.
Relations were established in 1942 when the ROC government was based in the Chinese city of Chongqing.
In 2018, Beijing and the Vatican struck a deal to work together on appointing Chinese bishops, which was renewed for the third time in October last year.
However, Beijing has repeatedly contravened the agreement by unilaterally appointing bishops.
In an interview with the monthly magazine America, which was published on Feb. 28, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s secretary for relations with states, said the Holy See remains committed to dialogue with China on the appointment of bishops in China.
“We believe that it is a process of continuing this dialogue, working on these questions of the appointment of bishops, trying to make this agreement work better, and slowly, hopefully, by doing so, building up a sense of trust and understanding between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China [PRC],” he said.
In response to Gallagher’s comments, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that it continues to closely monitor the ongoing dialogue between the PRC and the Holy See.
The ministry said it understands that the Vatican hopes to improve the plight of Chinese Catholics via dialogue with the PRC.
Taiwan would continue to work with the Holy See and the Catholic Church to enhance humanitarian cooperation and jointly safeguard the core value of religious freedom and in so doing, enhance bilateral ties, the ministry added.
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