Taiwan's former Vice President Chen Chien-jen says he hopes President Lai
Ching-te would be invited to the inauguration of a new pope.

He made the comments after Pope Francis' funeral at the weekend.

Chen said during the event, he had a brief conversation with former U-S
President Joe Biden... he also exchanged pleasantries with Japan's Foreign
Minister Takeshi Iwaya and with the delegation heads from Paraguay and
Guatemala.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Chen was seated next to Thailand's
representative, as delegations at the funeral were arranged according to the
French alphabet.

Chen said he believes he had completed his mission as Lai's special envoy to
Pope Francis' funeral service.

The former vice president had previously met with Pope Francis on six
occasions and was selected as Taiwan's envoy to the funeral in his capacity
as member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in 2021.

163 delegations attended Pope Francis' funeral at St Peter's

That included 12 reigning monarchs, 42 heads of state, six deputy heads of
state, six countries' speakers, and representatives from nine United Nations
organizations.