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Vatican’s ties with Taiwan remain stable: ambassador

“Such relations will not happen until Beijing commits to respecting basic human rights and the public’s freedom to worship.” — Tu Chou-shen, Taiwanese Ambassador to the Holy See

Taiwan-Vatican relations remain firm and stable, Taiwanese Ambassador to the Holy See Tu Chou-shen (杜筑生) said yesterday in Taipei, stressing that many issues remain before the Vatican would be willing to normalize relations with Beijing.

“I cannot say the Vatican will never forge formal ties with China,” he said. “But such relations will not happen until Beijing commits to respecting basic human rights and the public’s freedom to worship.”

Tu made the remarks at a reception held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday for 11 ambassadors and representatives who returned to Taipei to report on their diplomatic work abroad.

Tu said a lot of foreign media had predicted an imminent severance between Taipei and the Holy See in early May when a Chinese philharmonic orchestra performed in the Vatican auditorium for Pope Benedict at his 81st birthday celebration. The rumors intensified later that month when the Vatican did not follow its usual protocol by promptly publicizing the name of the new papal nuncio to Taiwan.

Taiwan established relations with the Holy See in 1942 and it remains Taiwan’s only European ally.

Tu said that Beijing had been pushing for diplomatic ties with the Vatican for the last six decades, but had failed consistently because it refused to compromise on demands the Vatican cut ties with Taiwan, nor would it promise not to interfere with China’s internal affairs, including freedom of worship.

The possibility of official Vatican-China relations was further dimmed in 2006 when China ignored Catholic Church procedure by appointing its own bishops, Tu said.

“Any members of the Catholic church can attest to the fact that bishops must be named under papal authority. No governments or any other organizations have the right to appoint their own bishops,” Tu said.

Last November, a Vatican delegation visited Beijing and hinted at the possibility of moving its embassy from Taiwan to Beijing.

The Vatican diplomatic mission in Taiwan has repeatedly assured the country that the pope would never abandon Taiwanese in spite of warming relations between the Holy See and Beijing.
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