Next week, it is anticipated that Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Kazakhstan on the same day as Pope Francis will be in the Central Asian nation.
The Kazakh Foreign Ministry has stated that Xi will meet with Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on September 14 during the pope’s three-day visit to Nur-Sultan.
The trips of Francis and Xi coincide with negotiations between the Holy See and China over the renewal of a provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops in China.
Vatican-China pact
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, stated in an Italian television interview on September 2 that a delegation of Vatican diplomats had returned from China and that he expects the agreement to be extended this fall.
It would be the second renewal of the agreement with Beijing since the Holy See signed it in September 2018.
Beijing severed diplomatic ties with the Holy See in 1951, following the Chinese Communist Revolution and the expulsion of missionaries by Mao Zedong.
A prospective meeting between Xi and Pope Francis would be unofficial in the absence of diplomatic relations. In the history of the Church, there has never been a meeting between a pope and the president of China.
Religious liberty abuses
A source in the Kazakh parliament told CNA that a meeting between the pope and the president is “theoretically possible.”
On September 13-15, Pope Francis will attend the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Kazakhstan.
At midday on September 14, the day of Xi’s arrival to the Kazakh capital, the pope is set to hold private discussions with many participants of the interreligious summit.
It seems improbable that the Chinese leader will attend the summit of Muslim, Christian, and other religious leaders.
China’s violent repression of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region of the country’s northwest has earned Xi a growing amount of international criticism.
On September 1, the United Nations released a report documenting “severe human rights breaches” in Xinjiang, including patterns of torture, incarceration, and sexual violence against China’s religious minority.
Kazakhstan would be Xi’s first official travel outside of China since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which he directed the toughest lockdowns in the world.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Xi’s journey to Central Asia could include a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Uzbekistan.
Visit by Taiwanese to the Vatican
A day prior to the announcement of Xi’s impending trip to Kazakhstan, the former vice president of Taiwan met with Pope Francis at the Vatican.
President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan stated that former Vice President Chen Chien-jen represented Taiwan at the beatification of Pope John Paul I on September 4.
Chen said on social media that he was “specially received” by Pope Francis before to the beatification and begged him to “pray for the Taiwanese people.”
The Holy See is one of only 14 states having formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), and the only entity in Europe to recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation.
Beijing considers Taiwan as a rebel province and has exerted pressure on other nations to sever connections with the island, causing seven nations to switch diplomatic ties from Taipei to Beijing since 2016. As a prerequisite for reestablishing diplomatic relations with the Holy See, it is widely assumed that Beijing would demand severing ties with Taiwan.
Cardinal Zen under investigation
The detention and upcoming trial in Hong Kong of a Catholic cardinal who has been an ardent advocate for religious freedom and democracy will serve as a backdrop for any interactions with Chinese officials during the papal trip.
In relation to his participation as a trustee of a pro-democracy legal fund, the emeritus bishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen, will stand trial alongside four other individuals in Hong Kong from September 19-23.
Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, following a gathering of 197 Catholic cardinals at the Vatican last week, expressed dissatisfaction that the cardinals did not use the consistory meeting to “declare unequivocal sympathy with Zen on behalf of the College of Cardinals.”
The prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith told Il Messaggero on September 1: “The silence of this consistory on the Zen case gives me pause.”
He emphasized that there was no proposal whatsoever for a group prayer for Cardinal Zen.
“It is clear that the Holy See is prevented from pursuing such measures by political considerations. Müller stated, “I am talking to the recently agreed agreement for the renewal of bishops with Xi’s government.”
“Perhaps the Church should be less constrained by power-based, worldly logic, and therefore more free to act and, if necessary, criticize those governments who repress human rights. In this circumstance, I question why Beijing should not be criticized,” he continued.
“Zen is a symbol; he was detained under false pretenses; he did nothing wrong; he is a prominent, courageous, and well feared government official.” He is nearly 80 years old and we have abandoned him.”