Vatican prioritises its relations with Beijing

Discrepancies have emerged in the way the Vatican has responded to donations from the Communist Party of China (CCP) and from Taiwan, with regard to needs in Rome and Italy linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

In mid-March, the Red Cross Society of China and the China-based Catholic Hebei Jinde Charities Foundation donated health supplies to the Vatican Pharmacy, including facial masks, to support patients infected with Covid-19. Under Beijing’s totalitarian rule, there are no Chinese agencies that operate independently of the CCP.

In a 9 April statement, the Vatican thanked China for the gifts that expressed “the solidarity of the Chinese people and of Catholic communities [in China] towards those involved in assisting people affected by Covid-19 and in the prevention of the ongoing coronavirus epidemic.”

“The Holy See appreciates the generous gesture and expresses gratitude to the bishops, Catholic faithful, institutions and all other Chinese citizens for this humanitarian initiative, assuring them of the esteem and prayers of the Holy Father,” the statement continued.

Taiwan too has offered donations to Italy and the Vatican to help keep sanitary supplies in stock during the coronavirus outbreak, but the Vatican so far has not made any expressions of gratitude.

As Elise Ann Allen pointed out on the Crux website, on 14 April, the Taiwan Embassy to the Holy See issued a statement saying they had donated 280,000 medical masks to the Vatican, the Italian bishops, Italian hospitals and various religious institutes in Italy.

“It is a sign of closeness to Pope Francis and to the Italian people, but also a help to the Italian church, which is very committed in accompanying the sick and most needy who suffer from the coronavirus,” said Taiwanese Ambassador to the Holy See Matthew Lee handing over the donation.

The donation was handed to Bishop Stefano Russo, Secretary General of the Italian bishops’ conference, and Fr Donato Cauzzo, who represented the Camillian Ministers of the Sick religious order.

According to Crux, masks were also given to the Vatican pharmacy, three Roman hospitals - Gemelli, the Vatican’s Bambino Gesu children’s hospital, and the Bio-Medical University Hospital - as well as other religious and healthcare bodies in northern Italy.

Along with South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong, Taiwan is widely seen as having an exemplary record in combating the pandemic. “Taiwan is one of the few countries that has been successful in fighting this virus,” Lee said. This was “because the government reacted quickly, taking all necessary measures such as giving tests to the entire population and the mandatory use of masks.”

China, for its part, is regarded as highly culpable with regard to tens of thousands of deaths since the outbreak that could have been avoided if it had not resorted to a policy of silencing and cover-up in Wuhan, between November last year and January this year. 

The Vatican failure to thank Taiwan publicly has certainly raised eyebrows, and prompted accusations that it is afraid to offend Beijing. 

This may be the case. Since the unpublished September 2018 agreement between Beijing and the Vatican, Rome has held back from criticising the draconian measures on the part of Beijing against the formerly “underground” Church in China and the “sinicisation” measures imposed on the newly unified Patriotic Church, that require loyalty to the party and President Xi Jinping before loyalty to the Church and indeed to the Gospel. 

The reported surrender to Beijing regarding appointment of bishops – supposedly allowing Beijing to produce a slate of three names from which the Pope must choose one – is widely seen as an abject capitulation.

However, in its negotiations with Beijing the Vatican still has one extremely important card to play. Along with 14 other countries that maintain ties with Taiwan, the Vatican recognises the country as the “Republic of China” under the “One China” policy that officially sees Beijing and Taipei as both claiming to be the legitimate government of China. The Holy See is the only European state to maintain this position. Mainland China insists Taiwan is a Chinese province and has a policy of diplomatically isolating the Taiwanese. Any country or organisation that does not fall in line is punished economically, and in other ways. The WHO continues to lock out Taiwan, in acquiescence with Beijing’s insistence, to its considerable recent embarrassment. All recognitions of Taiwan represent irritations to totalitarian China well beyond any economic impact the recognitions might have. It is just possible that the Vatican, well understanding the potency of this last card, is waiting to play it to maximum advantage.