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Delicate Diplomacy

FINDING A WAY FORWARD IN CHINA

"The fundamental stumbling block between the Vatican and Chinese authorities
lies in the ideological incompatibility between dialectic materialism
embedded in Marxism-Leninism and religious idealism," says Sister Beatrice
Leung "and there is currently a struggle between the government and the
Vatican to win teaching authority over the country's 12 million Catholics."

She said that the breakdown of the 1999 Vatican-Beijing negotiations
magnified the clash and the subsequent ordination of five Chinese bishops,
without Vatican approval, on 6 January 2000 and the canonization of 120 Chinese saints
on 1 October 2001 brought the conflict to the surface.

Internal difficulties

Sister Leung pointed to internal difficulties within the Vatican in this
time of tension. "Top-level personnel changes have reduced the Church's
ability to understand China," she said, "and Rome has shifted its attention
to Eastern Europe and Russia."

She noted that the push towards easing of relationships with China, which reached its zenith at the 1987 meeting between the former archbishop of Manila, Jaime Cardinal Sin and Zhao Ziyang had also faded. "In addition," she claims, "changes in Hong Kong and Taiwan have introduced new dimensions."

Chinese confusion

She pointed to China's confusion in describing its role as a world power as
a "dilemma" as it is still unable to reassure its neighbors of its own
integrity and unable to shake itself free from dependence on the security
provided by the United States of America. "And that creates resentment,"
she explained.
"China's continued rejection of interventions from European leaders, like
the president of Italy and officials from Ireland, on behalf of the Church
tends to damage its international reputation," she continued, "and it needs
to build a better relationship with Europe to offset its attachment to
Bush's superpower approach to international politics."

She explained that relations with the Vatican could help its cause as the Pope had sided with European leaders in condemning America's recent war-mongering.

More tolerance

Sister Leung said that China stood to gain from a more tolerant attitude
towards religions, and Catholicism in particular as, in a sense, this could
be traded for international respect. It would also assist them in evading
the constant embarrassment attracted by European and United States
accusations of human rights abuses. She also noted that China's entry into
the World Trade Organization (WTO) and hosting of the 2008 Beijing Olympic
Games should give officials more confidence to deal with religious tensions.
Sister Leung spoke of the importance of new research on religions in China
using a Sino-centric approach which presents a more balanced view,
including both positive and negative aspects, rather than the former
proliferation of Euro-centric foreign missiological approach.
She said that the time is ripe for dialogue now that the 2003 succession
crisis within the Party has been settled, but lamented that "the Vatican is
not in a mood to push the dialogue when the health of the Pope cannot allow
him to supervise China affairs and the heads of the Department for the
Evangelization of Peoples are not enthusiastic to take up real dialogue."

Sunday Examiner