Taiwan is racing to secure President Lai Ching-te’s attendance to the funeral of Pope Francis, a trip that would give the island’s top official a rare chance to mix with other leaders.

Taiwanese President William Lai will not attend the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday, with Vice President Chen Chien-jen representing him, local media reported on Wednesday. The Vatican is the only State in Europe that has formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan,

While a slew of countries, including the United States, have announced their heads of state will attend Saturday's funeral, diplomatically isolated and Chinese-claimed Taiwan, which has formal ties with the Vatican,