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
PROVOCATIVE: Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the UN Sun Lei accused Japan of sending military vessels to deliberately provoke tensions in the Taiwan Strait China denounced remarks by Japan and the EU about the South China Sea at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, and accused Tokyo of provocative behavior in the Taiwan Strait and planning military expansion. Ayano Kunimitsu, a Japanese vice foreign minister, told the Council meeting on maritime security that Tokyo was seriously concerned about the situation in the East China and South China seas, and reiterated Japan’s opposition to any attempt to change the “status quo” by force, and obstruction of freedom of navigation and overflight. Stavros Lambrinidis, head of the EU delegation to the UN, also highlighted South China Sea
The final batch of 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks purchased from the US arrived at Taipei Port last night and were transported to the Armor Training Command in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), completing the military’s multi-year procurement of 108 of the tanks. Starting at 12:10am today, reporters observed more than a dozen civilian flatbed trailers departing from Taipei Port, each carrying an M1A2T tank covered with black waterproof tarps. Escorted by military vehicles, the convoy traveled via the West Coast Expressway to the Armor Training Command, with police implementing traffic control. The army operates about 1,000 tanks, including CM-11 Brave Tiger
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said it expects its 2-nanometer (2nm) chip capacity to grow at a compound annual rate of 70 percent from this year to 2028. The projection comes as five fabs begin volume production of 2-nanometer chips this year — two in Hsinchu and three in Kaohsiung — TSMC senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer Cliff Hou (侯永清) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Silicon Valley, California, last week. Output in the first year of 2-nanometer production, which began in the fourth quarter of last year, is expected to
Taiwan’s drone exports surged past US$100 million in the first quarter, exceeding last year’s full-year total, with the Czech Republic emerging as the largest buyer, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Exports of complete drones reached US$115.85 million in the period, about 1.2 times the total recorded for all of last year, the ministry said in a report. Exports to the Czech Republic accounted for about US$100 million, far outpacing other markets. Poland, last year’s top destination, recorded about US$11.75 million in the first quarter. Taiwan’s drone exports have expanded rapidly in the past few years, with last year’s total
RSS