Former Taiwan vice president to attend Pope Francis funeral

TAIPEI (Reuters) -A former Taiwan vice president will attend this weekend's funeral of Pope Francis as the special envoy of President Lai Ching-te, the island's foreign ministry said on Wednesday after it had earlier hoped that Lai would attend.

Chinese-claimed Taiwan maintains formal diplomatic relations with the Vatican, one of only 12 countries to do so, and any international trips by Taiwanese presidents inevitably attracts strong opposition from Beijing.

Taiwan has watched nervously in recent years as Pope Francis sought to improve ties with China, though earlier on Wednesday Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu said ensuring Lai could attend the funeral was the ministry's "most important aim".

A few hours after saying that, the foreign ministry announced that former vice president Chen Chien-jen, a devout Catholic who has attended Vatican events previously, would go to the funeral as Lai's special envoy.

The ministry said that after discussions between Taiwan and the Vatican, it had been decided to send Chen, adding Chen had met Francis on six previous occasions and "had a deep relationship" with him.

Chen was vice president during Tsai Ing-wen's first term in office between 2016 and 2020 and then premier from 2023 to 2024.

Many other countries, including the United States, are sending their heads of state to the pope's funeral.

Taiwanese presidents have attended high-level events at the Vatican before. In 2013 then-president Ma Ying-jeou went to Francis' inaugural mass.

Taiwan has expressed concern over the efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties, saying China has no respect for religious freedom.

In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties.

China's foreign ministry on Tuesday expressed condolences over Pope Francis' death, but said it had no information to share on who might attend the funeral.

China says Taiwan is one of its provinces with no right to state-to-state relations, a position the government in Taipei strongly rejects.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard, Yimou Lee and Angie Teo; Editing by Saad Sayeed and Michael Perry)