Taiwan and China - CathNews New Zealand https://cathnews.co.nz Catholic News New Zealand Thu, 11 Aug 2022 09:14:30 +0000 en-NZ hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://cathnews.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/cropped-cathnewsfavicon-32x32.jpg Taiwan and China - CathNews New Zealand https://cathnews.co.nz 32 32 70145804 Vatican envoy: China's reaction to Pelosi visit ‘inflammatory' https://cathnews.co.nz/2022/08/11/chinas-reaction-to-pelosi-visit-inflammatory-taiwans-vatican-envoy-says/ Thu, 11 Aug 2022 08:05:57 +0000 https://cathnews.co.nz/?p=150312 China’s Pelosi reaction inflammatory

Taiwan's ambassador to the Holy See has denounced China's reaction to the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan as inflammatory. He said the Chinese response was irresponsible, juvenile and dangerous for the entire region. Matthew Lee, Taiwan's Ambassador to the Holy See, told Crux News that he "strongly condemns the Chinese government Read more

Vatican envoy: China's reaction to Pelosi visit ‘inflammatory'... Read more]]>
Taiwan's ambassador to the Holy See has denounced China's reaction to the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan as inflammatory. He said the Chinese response was irresponsible, juvenile and dangerous for the entire region.

Matthew Lee, Taiwan's Ambassador to the Holy See, told Crux News that he "strongly condemns the Chinese government for following the example of North Korea in wilfully test-firing missiles into waters near other countries".

Over the past six days, in response to Pelosi's visit, China has been sending military aircraft and unmanned drones into areas near Taiwan and Japan's westernmost islands.

Lee demanded that China "exercise self-restraint".

Pelosi, the most senior US politician to visit Taiwan in 25 years, travelled to the island and met Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and other leaders in the capital city of Taipei.

Her visit, made as part of a wider tour of Asia, enraged Beijing officials who had warned her not to travel to the island.

Taiwan is self-governed. However, China sees the island as a breakaway province that will eventually be united with the mainland. The US does not formally recognise Taiwan - however it offers consistent support including the sale of weapons.

At a press conference in Tokyo during the final leg of her Asia tour, Pelosi said on Friday that China has sought to isolate Taiwan from the international community. However, that would not prevent US officials from visiting.

"We will not allow China to isolate Taiwan. They are not doing our travel schedule" she said.

In his remarks to Crux News, Lee said seven US senators and seven other representatives, including Pelosi, have visited Taiwan this year alone.

"A visit by a US house speaker is not unprecedented, and visits by foreign government officials and legislators are routine occurrences in democratic countries," he said.

China's allegations that the visit was a violation of their sovereignty, that it damaged the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait, and their decision to launch live-fire military exercises on these grounds was "childish," Lee said.

He called the military exercises "a far cry from the way a civilised society should behave". He added that inflammatory behaviour such as this "has led to the escalation of tensions in the region and concerns from across the international community".

Sources

Crux Now

Daily Compass

Vatican envoy: China's reaction to Pelosi visit ‘inflammatory']]>
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Catholics still persecuted in China, confirms Taiwan Government https://cathnews.co.nz/2022/07/25/catholics-still-persecuted-in-china-confirms-taiwan-government/ Mon, 25 Jul 2022 07:50:31 +0000 https://cathnews.co.nz/?p=149612 China's persecution of Catholics has escalated, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This comes even as one Vatican official said the two sides are talking about opening a representative office in Beijing. According to spokesperson Joanne Ou, the Vatican has been requesting China's permission for a representative office to be established since 1999. Yet, Read more

Catholics still persecuted in China, confirms Taiwan Government... Read more]]>
China's persecution of Catholics has escalated, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This comes even as one Vatican official said the two sides are talking about opening a representative office in Beijing.

According to spokesperson Joanne Ou, the Vatican has been requesting China's permission for a representative office to be established since 1999.

Yet, as the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) oppression of Catholics and other groups has intensified, she said it shows that the agreement signed with the Vatican did not improve religious freedoms.

Vatican City State is the only European country to officially recognise Taiwan as the legitimate representative of China, despite pressure from the CCP to change its stance.

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Catholics still persecuted in China, confirms Taiwan Government]]>
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