China 'boycotts' pope's funeral

2005-04-07 15:51

Beijing - The Chinese government said on Thursday it won't send an envoy to Pope John Paul II's funeral due to the Vatican's diplomatic relations with rival Taiwan.

"Under the current circumstances, China will not send a delegation," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gang.

China refuses to have any official contact with governments that recognise Taiwan as a sovereign country. The mainland claims the island as part of its territory. The Vatican is the only European government that has official relations with Taiwan instead of Beijing.

The Chinese government said this week it would consider opening relations with the Vatican only if it breaks ties with Taiwan and avoids interference in Chinese affairs.

Qin complained about plans for Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian to attend the pope's funeral and expressed "strong dissatisfaction" to Italy, which has relations with Beijing, for granting Chen a visa.

"We hope the Vatican will take concrete steps for improving China-Vatican relations, instead of setting up new barriers," Qin said at a regular news briefing.

China's communist government ordered its Roman Catholics to break ties with the Vatican in 1951.

A state-sanctioned organisation that runs China's Roman Catholic churches said this week it wouldn't send a representative to the pope's funeral, citing the dispute over Taiwan.

The China Patriotic Catholic Association regards the pope as a spiritual leader and follows Vatican teachings but rejects a Vatican role in church operations and appoints its own priests.

Qin complained that Chen would use the trip to Rome to promote formal independence for Taiwan - a status that Beijing has said it would use military force to block.

"His real intention is to take this opportunity to engage in secessionist activity and create `two Chinas or one China and one Taiwan,' which is what we are opposed to," Qin said.

- AP