China yesterday reacted cautiously to the Vatican's call for dialogue, insisting that the Holy See must sever ties with Taiwan in order to forge diplomatic relations with Beijing.
In a special meeting concerning its relations with China, the Vatican called on Saturday for "respectful and constructive dialogue" with Beijing and expressed hopes for the normalization of ties.
"At this moment I cannot comment on this special meeting because we have only seen the news reports," said Liu Bainian (
Liu said that his association -- the state-run administrator of China's Catholic Church -- still hopes that formal ties between the Vatican and Beijing can be established "as soon as possible."
But he reiterated his government's demands that the Holy See first cut ties with Taiwan.
"The Chinese government has two conditions on establishing relations with the Vatican," Liu said. "The first is that the Vatican must sever all relations with Taiwan and the second is that the Vatican must commit to not interfere in China's internal affairs."
Following the two-day review of its China policy, the Holy See said it wished to "overcome misunderstandings of the past" with Beijing, which ended relations with the Vatican more than 50 years ago.
It was not immediately clear to what extent the meeting addressed the Vatican's relationship with Taiwan.
But the Holy See said in a statement it wanted to normalize relations with China at "different levels" in order to benefit the Church and work together "for the good of the Chinese people and for peace in the world."
"It's a positive signal" to China that will help "improve the climate of mutual understanding," said Italian sinologist Agostino Giovagnoli, speaking to the ANSA news agency.
"I'm sure Beijing will appreciate the moderation with which Rome acted," he said.
China's foreign ministry was not immediately available yesterday for comment.
China's state-sanctioned church has about 4 million worshippers, official figures show, and does not allow the country's Catholics to recognize papal authority.
The Vatican estimates that an illegal, or underground, church has around 10 million followers.
During China's more than 25 years of economic reform and opening to the outside world, the numbers of Chinese Christian believers, both Protestants and Catholics, have grown rapidly, but largely in "underground churches" that are not recognized by the state.
Diplomatic ties between China and the Vatican were severed in 1951, two years after Beijing's officially atheist communist government took power.
China refuses to enter into diplomatic relations with any country that maintains official ties with Taiwan.
Tensions have been simmering between Beijing and the Vatican since Chinese state authorities last year went ahead with the ordination of four bishops who did not have papal approval.
Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman David Wang (
Wang said that the meeting between Vatican and Beijing officials on Saturday had focused on issues such as China's lack of religious freedom. Both Cardinal Paul Shan (單國璽), the bishop of Taiwan and Cardinal Joseph Zen (陳日君), the bishop of Hong Kong, attended the meeting, Wang added.
"It would be difficult for Beijing to develop ties with the Vatican if China does not improve its attitude toward religious freedom," Wang said.
Wang added that Taiwan respected the need for the meeting.
"But so far we have not seen any sign of an end to ties between the Vatican and Taiwan," he said.
Additional reporting by Jewel Huang
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
CHINA’s BULLYING: The former British prime minister said that he believes ‘Taiwan can and will’ protect its freedom and democracy, as its people are lovers of liberty Former British prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday said Western nations should have the courage to stand with and deepen their economic partnerships with Taiwan in the face of China’s intensified pressure. He made the remarks at the ninth Ketagalan Forum: 2025 Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prospect Foundation in Taipei. Johnson, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time, said he had seen Taiwan’s coastline on a screen on his indoor bicycle, but wanted to learn more about the nation, including its artificial intelligence (AI) development, the key technology of the 21st century. Calling himself an
South Korea yesterday said that it was removing loudspeakers used to blare K-pop and news reports to North Korea, as the new administration in Seoul tries to ease tensions with its bellicose neighbor. The nations, still technically at war, had already halted propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarized zone, Seoul’s military said in June after the election of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. It said in June that Pyongyang stopped transmitting bizarre, unsettling noises along the border that had become a major nuisance for South Korean residents, a day after South Korea’s loudspeakers fell silent. “Starting today, the military has begun removing the loudspeakers,”
RSS