Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan)

Presidential emissary Vice President Chen Chien-jen, National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Tseng Hou-jen (曾厚仁), and Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Chih-Chung (吳志中), who are currently visiting the Holy See on a trip codenamed the Saint's Peace Project, met on September 4 with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. They were accompanied to the meeting by ROC Ambassador to the Holy See Matthew S.M. Lee (李世明).

Cardinal Parolin welcomed Vice President Chen and the other members of the delegation, and then the two sides discussed bilateral ties between Taiwan and the Vatican and other relevant issues. Cardinal Parolin made a point of explaining that the Holy See, in line with its commitment to evangelization and pastoral work, must seek dialogue with mainland China in order to conduct talks on church-related matters, and to ensure harmony within the worldwide Catholic Church.

During the meeting, Vice President Chen noted that after the major earthquake of February 6, 2016 in southern Taiwan's Tainan City, Pope Francis expressed concern for those affected and acted quickly to donate US$50,000 to the relief effort, for which the people of Taiwan were very grateful. Out of gratitude for this act of kindness, the vice president, on behalf of President Tsai Ing-wen and the people of Taiwan, has taken advantage of this trip to donate €100,000 via the Vatican to help the people in the area affected by a big earthquake that recently struck Italy. Cardinal Parolin thanked the Taiwan government for this humanitarian assistance, and for its longstanding support for the moral exhortations of Pope Francis.