FM CHEN REQUESTS USG ASSISTANCE FOR VATICAN VISIT

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 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