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.

Taiwan is working to send Lai Ching-te to the funeral of Pope Francis, a trip that would offer the island’s president a rare opportunity to mix with world leaders.

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,