Taiwan's new President Tsai Ing-wen gestures during her inauguration ceremony in Taipei on May 20. (Photo by AFP)
Taiwan and China relations are set to intensify with the swearing in of a new President in Taipei. And this will have an effect on Sino-Holy See relations as the Vatican remains the only European country to have diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Hundreds of thousands of people in Taiwan witnessed the swearing-in of Tsai Ing-wen and Philip Chen Chien-jen as president and vice-president May 20 in Taipei.
Tsai is Taiwan’s first woman president and Chen is its first Catholic vice-president.
Some 700 dignitaries including heads of states and diplomats from 59 countries attended the inauguration ceremony.
Cross-strait relations with China have been a concern ever since Tsai and her Independence Democratic Progressive Party won in the January polls on a wave of anti-China sentiment. China claims Taiwan is part of "one China" even if administered separately.
Tsai has formulated a "two state" policy, a stance that has irked Beijing.
In her inaugural speech, Tsai said that cross-strait relations have become an integral part of building regional peace and security.
The new presidency in Taiwan is seen keenly by China church observers.
This is largely because the Vatican and China have over the past two years engaged in intense negotiations and also because the Vatican remains the only European country to have diplomatic relations with Taiwan with its apostolic nuncio to Japan acting as the papal envoy to Taiwan.
Archbishop Savio Hon, the Chinese secretary general of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Evangelization of the Peoples, was also present as a private guest of the vice president.
He was joined by six local bishops and Monsignor Sladan Cosic, the Vatican’s new charge d’affaires of Taiwan.
Vice president Chen is popularly seen as a Christian face in Taiwan’s politics even though former president Ma Ying-yeou is also a baptized Catholic.
Chen, 64, was conferred a knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher in 2010 and of the Order of St. Gregory the Great in 2013 for his contributions to the church.
Watch this ucanews.com video taken during the inauguration.
"I am not familiar with Chen but know that he is a fervent Catholic who participated in Church activities before and after the presidential election as usual," Father Otfried Chen, secretary general of the bishops’ conference, told ucanews.com.
Besides Chen, Tsai picked another independent politician Lin Chuan as her premier.
Lin, an expert on economics is not a Christian, but is known to be heavily influenced by Jesuit Father Luis Chang when he was studying at Fu Jen Catholic University in Taipei. He was the first chair of a student social service group founded by Father Chang.
Taiwan is not the only country in Asia to have Christians as elected officials in high office. Myanmar's democratically elected civilian government that came to power after more than 50 years of military rule, elected an ethnic Chin Christian as vice president.
Meanwhile, one Catholic and two Baptists MP have been appointed as regional chief ministers among the 14 States and Divisions in Myanmar.
However, Archbishop John Hung Shan-chuan, president of Taiwan’s bishops’ conference, told ucanews.com that the Catholic influence in politics or policies is still minimal in Taiwan.
"It will be difficult for Chen to push for a church vision in politics as Catholics only account for 1 percent of the 23 million total population," he said, adding that it will also be unfair to impose a religious vision on 99 percent of the population who do not believe it.
"But he could make a good witness of his faith and I will give him the pope’s messages and documents for reference," the archbishop said.
"I would expect Chen to do what a vice president has to do - manage the country well," said Archbishop Hung who knew Chen for the last 12 years.
"But a vice president is just a title without real power. Chen has to do whatever Tsai tells him to. He hasn’t started his work, so it’s too early to say if he is good or bad," he said.
Father Olivier Lardinois of Kuting Sacred Heart Church where Chen goes for daily Mass, asked the congregation on May 19 to pray that the vice president show more care to the vulnerable.
A taxi driver surnamed Chen complained that "the economy is bad" while Shao Chiao-chu, a young woman in her 20s, hopes there is more care for the youth and a lowering of the unemployment rate.
This echoes the concern of Father Otfried Chen.
"Politicians should try their best to protect the life of the weak… Parents should have a stable job and this is the responsibility of the government," the priest said.
