The ordination of five priests in China last week, against the Pope's wishes, can be construed as another blow by China's authorities against wider religious freedoms and another example of Beijing's determination to retain political control over religious organizations. Beijing has long denied the Pope's right as head of the Roman Church to appoint bishops and has gone about appointing them itself through the revealingly named Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association.
It seems like another version of the iron grip the Chinese government seeks to retain over Tibetan Buddhism which has its spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in exile, the Panchen Lama, next in the hierarchy, either in prison or dead, while a fake Panchen, chosen by and a tool of the Chinese Communist Party, sits in his place, and now the Karmapa Lama, third in the hierarchy, has fled into exile in India as a result of China's determination to repress Tibetan religious life. And of course last year also saw the repression of the Falun Gong sect, a group largely composed of middle-aged men and women who derive spiritual and physical benefit from a certain form of calisthenics. Beijing's reaction to the Falun Gong has been extraordinary even by that government's usual contemptible standards.
But last week's ordination ceremony is of greater significance to Taiwan than merely reminding Taiwanese of the kind of regime that is run from Beijing and bolstering their resolve not to be any part of it. For China's action is as much about the Vatican's recognition of Taiwan as it is about keeping a lid on the Catholic Church in China.
That Catholic bishops in China are appointed, in the last analysis by the Chinese government, must matter to anyone who takes their faith seriously. Since the bishops are not appointed by the Pope, the link from God to congregation is broken. The bishops cannot validly ordain priests and the priests they do ordain cannot validly say Mass, give the sacrament, hear confessions, give absolution or perform any other rite of the church.
Taiwan enters into this problem because China will not let the Vatican appoint bishops while it retains diplomatic relations with Taiwan. The Vatican has said that it was willing to transfer its China nunciature from Taipei to Beijing but would not cease to recognize Taiwan. Since this would in effect create dual recognition, it is out of the question for "one China"-obsessed Beijing.
What has been frequently called a "warming of relations" between Beijing and the Vatican has been misnamed. Rather it is that the Vatican has been coerced into negotiations with Beijing as a result of Beijing's calculated brutality towards Chinese Catholics. Throughout last year Beijing conducted a campaign to force Catholic congregations to register with the government's Bureau of Religious Affairs, which according to the group Human Rights Watch was marked by detentions, disappearances, ill-treatment, fines, and harassment. Clergy were arrested in Zhejiang and Father Yan Weiping, from Hebei, was found dead on a Beijing street on May 13 after being detained earlier that day while saying Mass. The ordinations are just another way of showing that China can do what it likes.
The message to the Vatican is clear. Beijing is not interested in negotiation. It simply wants its way and will treat Catholics in as rough a way as it pleases until the Vatican gives it what it wants.
There is little that Taiwan can do to influence the outcome of this power ploy. The Vatican will either give ground to ease the pressure on Catholics in China or it will not. Perhaps the most valuable lesson Taiwan can learn from this, given US pressure for more cross-strait negotiation is to take note of Beijing's negotiation style and prepare itself accordingly.
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