A priest in China's non-government controlled Catholic church has been abducted and detained by authorities, three months after the head of his diocese was taken away, a US-based monitoring group said yesterday.
Father Zhao Kexun was "forcibly abducted" by Chinese government security agents in Xuanhua, a district in the northern province of Hebei, after a service at a private house on Wednesday, according to the Cardinal Kung Foundation.
Zhao, an administrator for the Xuanhua diocese, was returning to his home 8km away when he was taken, the group said in a statement. A woman with him also was detained but was released shortly after, it added.
It said the whereabouts of Zhao, 75, were unknown.
The priest's detention comes after Bishop Zhao Zhendong, 83, was arrested in December, the foundation said. It did not give any other details.
A man who answered the telephone at the Xuanhua public security bureau said he was "unclear" about the situation. He would give only his surname, Guo.
China cut off ties with the Vatican shortly after the officially atheistic Communist Party took power in 1949, and relations between them remain strained.
Worship is allowed only in government-controlled churches, though millions of Catholics belong to unofficial congregations loyal to Rome. The government's Catholic church claims 4 million believers, but the Cardinal Kung Foundation says the unofficial church has 12 million followers.
Many unofficial congregations hold services openly, but in some regions, particularly the politically sensitive capital of Beijing, they are routinely harassed and their leaders arrested.
According to the foundation's statement, 33 members of seven dioceses have been arrested and imprisoned in Hebei alone, with many others in the same situation in other provinces.
"This is indisputable evidence of the Chinese government's systematic effort in an attempt to crush and eradicate the Roman Catholic Church in China," it said, citing Joseph Kung, the foundation's president. "The Chinese government keeps contradicting itself by stating that its constitution guarantees religious freedom. ... The facts certainly do not speak for the words."
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ Special Report. “He told me: ‘I will never do
RSS