TAIPEI: Taiwan's envoy to the funeral of Pope Francis aims to use his attendance to "have a good chat" with leaders of countries who are friendly to Taipei, taking the opportunity to boost the international ties of the diplomatically-isolated island. While the Vatican is one of only 12 countries to maintain formal diplomatic relations with Chinese-claimed Taiwan, President Lai Ching-te is not attending the funeral. Lai is sending instead former Vice President Chen Chien-jen, a devout Catholic