China wants to improve ties with Vatican, which has diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and...

China and the Vatican City appear to be engaged in fresh outreach to improve ties.

The outreach, however, is complicated by some harsh realities. The Vatican City is one of the few countries in the world to recognise Taiwan over China, which violates the ‘One China Policy’ of Beijing which it considers a red line. On the other hand, Beijing has  been accused of interfering in the appointment of Catholic priests in the country.

Despite such irritants in the relationships, the sides appear to be working towards improving bilateral ties.

Vatican’s top diplomat, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, has said the Holy See would want to open an office in China. On the other hand, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said China is willing to work with the Vatican to improve ties, as per Reuters.

“We are willing to work together with the Vatican to promote the continuous improvement of China-Vatican relations,” said Wang Wenbin, as per Reuters, adding that the two sides have maintained “deep communication on bilateral relations and international hot issues”.

Taiwan weighs in on China-Vatican outreach

Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, shortly after the new administration took over, said it is paying close attention to the China-Vatican outreach.

Taiwan flagged that Beijing has continued to violate the terms of 2018 agreement with the Vatican that would have allowed for the appointment of bishops in the country. The issue has long been an irritant in the China-Vatican ties.

China has been generally criticised for interference in religious affairs despite being an atheist country. It is also reflected in the manner Beijing has interfered in Tibetan affairs and has declared the intent to announce the next Dalai Lama as opposed to a leader appointed by the Tibetans.

Taiwan further said that it continued to promote cooperation with the Vatican in fields such as humanitarian assistance and defending religious freedom, as per Reuters.

“We understand that the Holy See hopes to promote the freedom of belief and rights of Chinese Catholics, and has publicly expressed its desire to send representatives to China many times,” said Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry in a statement.

It accused China of clamping down on religious freedom and called upon all the nations to urge China to stop its “violations of religious freedom and basic human rights”.