TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan Vice President William Lai will attend next month's inauguration of the new Paraguay president, Taiwan's presidential office said on Monday.

Lai will likely transit the United States to and from Paraguay, diplomatic sources have previously told Reuters, giving him the chance to discuss his own bid for Taiwan's presidency at elections in January.

The presidential office will hold a news conference at 2pm (0600 GMT) to announce details of Lai's trip to Paraguay.

Paraguay's president-elect, Santiago Pena, visited Taiwan last week and met both Lai and President Tsai Ing-wen. Paraguay is one of just 13 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Chinese-claimed Taiwan.

Tsai cannot run for office again after serving two terms.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Kim Coghill and Lincoln Feast)