Ex-vice president named as Lai's envoy to Pope Francis' funeral

Taipei, April 23 (CNA) President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) has appointed former Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) as his envoy to attend Pope Francis' upcoming funeral, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement Wednesday.

MOFA said the appointment of Chen to Francis' funeral in Vatican City on April 26 (local time) was made following discussions with the Holy See.

It also cited Chen's previous meetings with Pope Francis on six occasions and his role as an academician of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences as reflecting the close relationship between the two sides.

Asked by reporters at an event in Taipei later Wednesday, however, whether Beijing had pressured the Holy See into not allowing Lai himself to attend the upcoming funeral in person, Deputy Foreign Minister François Wu (吳志中) did not respond directly.

Instead, Wu emphasized that Chen, who served as former President Tsai Ing-wen's (蔡英文) deputy from 2016 to 2020, was "the best choice under the current circumstances."

The Vatican is one of 12 states in the world to have formal diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan's official name), and past Taiwanese presidents have joined other world leaders in taking part in key papal events.

Former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), for example, attended the papal inauguration of Pope Francis in 2013, and Ma's predecessor Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005.

The Holy See and Beijing do not have diplomatic relations, but the two sides signed an agreement on the appointment of bishops in China in 2018 that has since been renewed twice.

While the Vatican said at the time that the deal was not political, some Western media outlets reported it as a sign of warming ties between the two.

Pope Francis died at his residence on Monday at the age of 88, according to the Vatican.