| Summary/Abstract |
The Vatican–Taiwan relationship is an anomalous one, with only a marginal relationship to Cold War issues or questions of the legitimacy of the PRC as a regime. Rather, the rationale for the connection is that the Vatican has an ongoing diplomatic relationship with China, and that Taiwan is the only place in China where it is possible to maintain a nunciature (or embassy). This suits the Taiwan authorities, as the Vatican remains its only diplomatic partner in Europe and is the most important diplomatic relationship remaining to them. But it rests on premises that ceased to be valid decades ago. The likelihood is that the relationship will be severed the moment it becomes feasible for the Vatican to establish a nunciature in Beijing.
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