Taiwan’s minister to Pope Francis ‘ death said he prayed for Lai Ching-te to be able to meet Japan’s foreign secretary, easing the region’s political confinement.
The Vatican is one of only 12 nations to have proper relations with Taiwan, which’s authorities had hoped Lai would have been able to attend Francis ‘ death, giving him a chance to mingle with US President Donald Trump.
But, former Vice President Chen Chien-jen ended up representing Lai, a devoted Catholic who had formerly met Francis on six times.
Inquiring Taiwan, Francis had spearheaded a broad awareness to formally atheist China, including signing a deal regarding the visit of Catholic bishops there.
Chen expressed his hope that Francis would continue to pray from heaven for even better relations between Taiwan and the Vatican in comments made late on Saturday ( Apr 26 ).
” I also hope that when the new bishop is elected, President Lai Ching-te will be able to represent our country at the commencement of the new pope, which I mentioned in my prayer at the mass,” Chen said.
The conference to choose a new pope is scheduled to take place sometime between May 6 and May 11.
Taiwan’s Ma Ying-jeou, then-President, was present for Francis ‘ inauguration in 2013 at the same time.
China did not make it known that it had sent a delegation to Francis ‘ death, but it did offer its sympathies.
Vice Foreign Minister Francois Wu, one of Taiwan’s most well-known officials who frequently appears in international media interviews, accompanied Chen at the funeral. He was recently Taipei’s de facto embassy to France.
Former US President Joe Biden, whose leadership firmly supported Taiwan, was met and spoken with Chen and Wu, according to the Central News Agency.
Chen added that he had a conversation with Takeshi Iwaya, the foreign minister of Japan, and that they had “talked about the successful cooperation between the two places.”
Taiwan, according to China, has no right to state-to-state relations, which Taipei’s authorities vehemently rejects.