US embassy cable - 05TAIPEI1671

C O N F I D E N T I A L TAIPEI 001671 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS AIT/W 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2015 
TAGS: PREL, CH, TW, Foreign Policy 
SUBJECT: FM CHEN REQUESTS USG ASSISTANCE FOR VATICAN VISIT 
 
Classified By: AIT Acting Director David J. Keegan, Reason: 1.4 (B/D) 
 
1. (C) Foreign Minister Mark Chen contacted AIT on April 6 to 
ask for USG assistance with President Chen Shui-bian's 
planned trip to the Vatican on April 8 to attend memorial 
services for Pope John Paul II.  FM Chen said that the Holy 
See has received approval from the Italian government to 
grant the Taiwan delegation clearance to attend the funeral 
ceremonies, but FM Chen registered concern that Beijing might 
pressure the Italian government to reverse its decision.  He 
requested that the USG encourage the Italian government not 
to respond to PRC intervention on the visit. 
 
2. (C) FM Chen told AIT that the Vatican representative on 
April 4 extended a personal invitation for President Chen to 
attend the Pope's memorial services.  The Foreign Minister 
said that the government has charted a Boeing 747 aircraft to 
take the President and a small party to Rome.  In addition to 
the Foreign Minister and Presidential Office Deputy Secretary 
General Ma Yung-chen, Chen said the formal five-person 
delegation will likely include the president of the Fu-Jen 
Catholic University and Chairman of the cabinet's Aboriginal 
Affairs Commission Wallis Peilin, whom Chen described as a 
devout Catholic.  Chen said the delegation would depart 
Taipei on the evening of April 7 and leave Rome on the 
afternoon of April 8.  He added that there would be no 
overnight stay nor any meetings on the margins of the 
memorial ceremony. 
 
3. (C) Separately, working level MOFA officials told AIT that 
the Italian government has assured Taiwan representatives in 
Rome that the President and his party would be able to 
transit Italy to attend the ceremony.  MOFA reported that the 
Vatican has asked that the delegation not remain overnight in 
Rome.  MOFA officials believe the request was related to the 
lack of hotel space in Rome and did not represent a move to 
downgrade the status of Taiwan's delegation. 
KEEGAN