Diplomatic relations would not be addressed in an agreement between China and the Holy See that is reportedly ready to be signed before the end of the month to settle a long-standing dispute over the nomination of bishops, a US Jesuit magazine reported on Tuesday.
The question “was not raised in the present negotiations with Beijing, nor was the question of the Holy See’s relations with Taiwan,” reported America, citing sources with knowledge of the matter.
The Holy See is Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally in Europe.
Photo: CNA, courtesy of the Embassy of the Republic of China to the Holy See
Taiwan has lost five allies since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office in May 2016, as China has stepped up its suppression of Taiwan’s international presence in response to Tsai’s cross-strait stance.
Amid media speculation over the content of the agreement, which reports say could lead to the Holy See establishing diplomatic ties with Beijing, the America report cited Vatican sources as saying that the deal would bring together China’s state-backed and unauthorized Catholic communities.
A high-level Vatican delegation is to travel to Beijing for the signing, the magazine said, adding that a date has already been fixed.
“The agreement only deals with the question of the nomination of bishops. It gives each side a say in the selection of candidates, but it recognizes that the pope will have the final word in the appointment of bishops for the Catholic Church throughout mainland China,” the report said.
China and the Holy See consider it “a provisional agreement” to be revisited in a few years, it said.
The Holy See recognizes that it is “not a good agreement,” but believes “it is the only one possible at present and that, in a small, but highly significant way, it opens the door to developing a constructive and improving dialogue with the world’s emerging superpower,” the magazine said.
The report said that the text of the agreement would not be made public, even after it has been signed.
In contrast, a report by the Global Times, a newspaper owned by the Chinese Communist Party’s People’s Daily, on Tuesday quoted the agreement as saying that “future bishops in China should be approved by the Chinese government and mandated by the pope and the letter of appointment would be issued by the pope.”
Citing Francesco Sisci, a senior researcher at the Center of European Studies at China’s Renmin University, the Global Times said that the agreement “would be rather broad on the church in China and should also include provisions for future talks and changes.”
The agreement is the result of negotiations that were revived after Pope Francis took over in March 2013, America said, adding that the administration of US President Donald Trump is not happy with the agreement, a position shared by the US Catholic Church and others.
“They see it as weakening the struggle for religious freedom in China and point to the crackdown on religion in that country in recent months under [Chinese] President Xi Jinping [習近平],” the magazine said.
‘DANGEROUS GAME’: Legislative Yuan budget cuts have already become a point of discussion for Democrats and Republicans in Washington, Elbridge Colby said Taiwan’s fall to China “would be a disaster for American interests” and Taipei must raise defense spending to deter Beijing, US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Pentagon policy, Elbridge Colby, said on Tuesday during his US Senate confirmation hearing. The nominee for US undersecretary of defense for policy told the Armed Services Committee that Washington needs to motivate Taiwan to avoid a conflict with China and that he is “profoundly disturbed” about its perceived reluctance to raise defense spending closer to 10 percent of GDP. Colby, a China hawk who also served in the Pentagon in Trump’s first team,
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
INVESTMENT WATCH: The US activity would not affect the firm’s investment in Taiwan, where 11 production lines would likely be completed this year, C.C. Wei said Investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the US should not be a cause for concern, but rather seen as the moment that the company and Taiwan stepped into the global spotlight, President William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday alongside TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家). Wei and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday announced plans to invest US$100 billion in the US to build three advanced foundries, two packaging plants, and a research and development center, after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on chips made
RSS