"[1] Unofficially, the Holy See views the Republic of China as the representative government,[2] and maintains diplomatic relations with the ROC,[3][4] with an embassy in Taipei.

However, this move was blocked by France, which by the treaties imposed on China at the end of the Second Opium War held a "protectorate" over the Catholic missions in the country.

[11][12][13] In 1922, Archbishop Celso Benigno Luigi Costantini was appointed to head an Apostolic Delegation in the country.

[15] After the Japan succeeded in its invasion of Manchuria and the 1932 establishment of its Manchukuo puppet state, the Vatican retained its presence in the occupied region.

[19]: 33  The CCP framed these actions in terms of Chinese Catholics reclaiming their church in the context of broader opposition to Western imperialism.

[10]: 188  Cassidy left office in 1979 and the Holy See has not named a new nuncio to China; its embassy in Taipei continues to be headed by a chargé d'affaires.

[21]: 817 The Taipei government has made no change in the status of the embassy to the Holy See that it maintains in Rome.

In Spring 2005, President Chen Shui-bian attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

[10]: 189 In November 2005, the Vatican sent Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran to Taiwan to express the Holy See's view of relations.