A Nostalgic Visit to WWII ROC Embassy inside the Vatican

“It was quite a emotional experience for us in retracing his life in Vatican,” said Dr. Charles Sie, son of the first ROC Ambassador to the Holy See, accompanied by the ROC Ambassador Larry Wang visited the ROC Embassy to Holy See inside the Vatican City during WWII from 1942-1945. Dr. Sie, who did not join his father in the Vatican during the war said Ambassador Cheou-kang Sie used to recall his diplomatic posting inside the Vatican City, which has enabled him to appreciate the long standing relations between the Holy See and the Republic of China (Taiwan).

Dr. Sie remarked that Ambassador Sie’s relationship with the Hoy See may present itself as an appropriate subject of study for the Sie Cheou-kang Institute at University of Denver, which is scheduled to open in 2009.

The bilateral relations between the Holy See and the Republic of China trace back to Pope Pius XI when Archbishop Celso COSTANTINI was appointed as papal representative to the ROC and was received by the erstwhile ROC President Li Yuan-hong on January 1, 1923. The ROC government sent Mr. Cheou-kang Sie as a minister, an official rank lower next to the ambassador, to the Holy See in 1943 when the two sides first established relations at ministerial level, which was upgraded to full diplomatic relations in 1959 as a result of negotiations. The Holy See has relocated its Nunciature to Taipei since 1952.