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China is sincere about improving ties with the Vatican, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday, after the Vatican signed a landmark agreement giving it a say in the appointment of bishops in China.
New bishops will be proposed by members of local Catholic communities together with Chinese authorities, and the names of candidates sent to the Vatican. Critics labelled the deal a sellout to the Communist government.
Speaking at a daily news briefing in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China was sincere about wanting better relations with the Vatican and the bishops agreement was an important step in improving ties.
China has denied a request for a U.S. warship to visit Hong Kong, the U.S. consulate in the Chinese city said on Tuesday, amid rising tension between Beijing and Washington over trade and a U.S. decision to sanction the Asian nation's military.The amphibious assault ship Wasp had been due to make a port call in the former British colony of Hong Kong in October, diplomatic sources said."The Chinese Government did not approve a request for a U.S. port visit to Hong Kong by the USS Wasp," a consulate spokeswoman said."We have a long track record of successful port visits to Hong Kong, and we expect that to continue," she added.Vietnam jails activist for 27 mths over anti-govt posts on FacebookIn Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang did not directly answer a question on whether China had denied the request."For requests for U.S. military ships to visit Hong Kong, China has always carried out approvals case by case, in accordance with the principle of sovereignty and the detailed situation," he told reporters, without elaborating.In 2016, at a time of heightened tension over its territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea, China denied a request for a U.S. carrier strike group led by the John C. Stennis to visit Hong Kong.On Saturday, China summoned the U.S. ambassador in Beijing and postponed joint military talks in protest against a U.S. decision to sanction a Chinese military agency and its director for buying Russian fighter jets and a surface-to-air missile system.
China denies Hong Kong port visit for US navy ship amid trade tensions
"China is willing to continue to meet the Vatican side halfway and have constructive dialogue, increasing understanding and accumulating mutual trust, to promote the process of continuing to improve relations," Geng said, without elaborating.
The Vatican statement about the deal did not mention Taiwan, which the Holy See recognises diplomatically and which China claims as a wayward province.
Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said in a weekend statement that it hoped the China-Vatican deal could help improve religious freedom in China.
China on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction and said it had lodged stern representations with the United States after the State Department approved the sale to Taiwan of spare parts for military aircraft worth up to $330 million.China's foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made the comments at a daily news briefing in Beijing.U.S. military sales to self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its territory, are an irritant in ties between the world's two largest economies. Taiwan would still need to finalise sale details with U.S. companies. China says US trying to bully it into submission as fresh tariffs kick in
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"As the world watches China increasingly tightening control over religious practices, Taiwan trusts that the Holy See has made appropriate arrangements to ensure that Catholic adherents in China will receive due protection and not be subject to repression," it said.
A Taiwan government delegation will visit the Vatican next month to attend the canonisation ceremony for Pope Paul VI, it added.
China's official Catholic Church reaffirmed its loyalty to the country's ruling Communist Party on Sunday, while welcoming a landmark deal struck with the Vatican on appointing new bishops.