The Vatican and the Other China

BEIJING â€" There are approximately as many Catholics in the world as Chinese â€" over 1 billion each, with 1.3 billion Chinese just pipping the world’s 1.2 billion baptized Catholics.

It’s a coincidence, of course, but it points to the potential for sought-after converts in a fast-changing, officially atheist country where many people are urgently searching for spiritual values, as the church seeks to strengthen its image and numbers globally after the damaging child abuse scandals. Yet there is a well-known problem: the Chinese Communist Party rejects Rome’s influence and regards its own secular officials, not a foreign pope, as the leader of all Chinese, Catholics included.

Instead, for 71 years, the Vatican has maintained diplomatic ties with the Republic of China, as Taiwan is formlly known, and not the People’s Republic of China, which threw it out after the 1949 Communist revolution and set up its own, competing church, called the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.

So as Pope Francis prepares for his inaugural Mass on Tuesday in Rome, President Ma Ying-jeou is on his way with a high-level team from Taipei to take part in what is a rare opportunity for Taiwan’s leader, head of a state recognized by just 23 nations around the world, to mix with other world leaders, dozens of whom are expected, including Joe Biden, the U.S. vice president, and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. The Vatican is the only state in Europe that recognizes Taiwan.

For President Ma, who has said he was raised in a Catholic household and frequently attended a Catholi! c church in Taipei with his grandmother as a child, it’s a rare chance to mingle, and it speaks directly to the aspirations of most of Taiwan’s 23 million people for more international recognition, after decades of unbending pressure from China for nations to derecognize it.

President Ma is traveling with his wife, Chow Mei-ching, and two senior officials: the deputy foreign minister, Vanessa Shih, and the National Security Council secretary general, Jason Yuan, as well as the president of Fu Jen Catholic University, Vincent Chiang, The Taipei Times reports.

In his luggage President Ma has a gift for Pope Francis: a red vase by Franz Chen, a popular Taiwanese ceramicist who is a Catholic (there are about 300,000 Catholics in Taiwan, where the church is headed by Rome, as it is almost everywhere in the world). In Chinese culture, the magpie is a happy bird, and the vase sports a “Joyful Magpie” design, TheTaipei Times reported, citing a presidential office spokeswoman, Lee Chai-fei.

But might the Vatican one day switch its affiliation to Beijing, as so many states have

No one expects that any time soon, but there was a renewed flurry of speculation when the new pope’s name was announced. Could “Francis” be a message for China, with Francis Xavier, the great Jesuit missionary, being a role model for the new pope, the Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the first Jesuit to occupy the position

Xavier, who co-founded the Jesuits, died in 1552 on an island off the coast of southern China while waiting to travel inland.

Pope Francis has since stated clearly that his name choice was based on Saint Francis of Assisi, but he’s a Jesuit â€" an order known for its intellectuals and wily thinkers â€" and suspicions linger that there might be a dual meaning that the pope is not willing to state in public but intends nevertheless.

And what of China, which normally registers angr! y protest! when a top Taiwan politician is received abroad

There was some pushback, but not as much as in the past, likely a reflection of China’s hopes for its warming relationship with Taiwan under President Ma. In 2005, China filed a protest to Italy for granting a visa to then-President Chen Shui-bian so he could attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

Instead, last week, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying called on Taiwan to “bear in mind the overall situation and deal prudently with sensitive issues,” The South China Morning Post reported.

“We hope that the Vatican will take concrete steps to create conditions for the improvement of China-Vatican relations and gradually remove barriers,” Ms. Hua said.

She did, however, call on the Vatican to “sever its so-called diplomatic relations with Taiwan and recognize the Chinese government as the sole leal representative of all of China.”

For its part, Wang Jin-pyng, Taiwan’s legislative speaker, said the Vatican was Taiwan’s diplomatic ally and that China should respect the interactions between two countries that maintain diplomatic links with each other, The Taipei Times reported.

The Vatican has said it will accord President Ma normal diplomatic honors and there will be no restrictions to his presence.

As for the conversion issue: that hope remains in the church, though China is likely to resist it very stubbornly. What if “China opens up and becomes the greatest field of Christian mission since the Americas” asked an article in the Catholic Education Resource Center. For one, it might create a different Catholic-Muslim global balance, projected in the article to be 1.3 billion Catholics to 1.8 billion Muslims by 2025, the article said.

Waiting for the Run on the Banks

Economics Nobel laureate Paul Krugman could not have been clearer about the dangers of forcing depositers in Cypriot banks to take a loss on their accounts â€" known as a haircut.

“OK, I didn’t see that one coming. With all the problems in Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal I wasn’t watching Cyprus. But that’s where the big euro news is this weekend; in return for a bailout, Cyprus is supposed to impose a large haircut â€" that is, loss â€" on all depositors in its banks,” Paul blogged.

“It’s as if the Europeans are holding up a neon sign, written in Greek and Italian, saying ‘time to stage a run on your banks!’”

Our colleagues Landon Thomas and Liz Alderman write that with smaller deposits being taxed at 6.75 percent to repay the European buyout of Cypriot banks, “banks will be confiscating money directly from retirees and ordinary workers to help pay the tab for the €10 billion bailout or $13 billion.”

The Cypriot bailout follows those for Greece, Portugal, Ireland and the Spanish banking sector â€" and is the first where bank depositors will be touched.

Public officials in Spain and Italy did their best over the weekend to portray the situation in Cyprus as unique, and to insist that deposits in those countries remained safe.

Still, as Paul Krugman writes: “Tomorrow and the days immediately following should be very interesting.”

It may take the better part of the week to see how things turn out. The newly elected Cypriot president believes the legislature would not approve the terms, which could put the whole bailout at risk â€" and the whole banking sector in tiny Cyprus.

Banks will not open on Tuesday, as planned, and may not even open on Wednesday. Those efforts, to avoid a run on the! banks by depositors, may or may not work in Cyprus â€" not to mention in Spain, Italy and Portugal.

New Prime Minister Seeks to Reassure World on China’s Rise

BEIJING â€" Does China have a growing image problem in the world

Some say yes, pointing to fears it may threaten global peace as it spars with neighbors over contested territories or allegedly is the source of large-scale cyberattacks on other nations. Another big issue: fear of environmental disaster as its large population and high-speed economic growth pollute at a pace that has, arguably, already overwhelmed the ecological balance at home and may damage the global environmental balance, too.

Li Keqiang, the country’s new prime minister, appeared to address these fears on Sunday at his first news conference since being appointed head of the government two days ago. Fittingly, if unfortunately, it was a severely polluted day, with smog carpeting the capital.

In Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, time was up at the end of the long, 107-minute news conference in which he spoke about a range of issues inluding the need to deepen reform, the economy and urbanization.

The moderator had called an end to questions. (The New York Times wasn’t invited to attend, so I watched on state TV, which broadcast the whole event.) Many overseas reporters hadn’t had a chance to ask a question Mr. Li noted, adding, “I’d like to say a few more sentences.”

“Recently I’ve been looking a lot at reports on issues to do with China, of course most have been on the issues that international public opinion is paying attention to,” he said.

There were basically two: “One is worries whether China’s economy can develop sustainably,” in a nod to environmental concerns.

“And another one is worries whether China’s development will rely on force and hegemony,” in a nod to concerns China is becoming increasingly aggressive.

“I think that both these problems can be dispelled,” he said (here I am translating from a Chinese transcript of his remarks.)

“China has the conditions to preserve sustainable and healthy development and to continue to promote social progress,” said Mr. Li, a lively speaker who gestures with his hands when he talks and connects well with his audience, less stiff than other senior leaders.

“China has 1.3 billion people. To realize modernization we still have a very long road to walk. We need a lasting environment of international peace,” he said.

“Even if China develops to being formidable, we will not pursue hegemony,” he promised, using political jargon to mean tyrannical or bullying, “because we have been deeply affected by agonizing experiences in China’s recent and contemporary history. Do not impose on others what we do not desire ourselves. Do not do to others. This is an article of faith for Chinese people.”

But the special address to for overseas journalists and, apparently, the world at large, contained a warning too.

“Here I want to emphasize, walking the path of peaceful development is China’s firm and unshakable decision,” he said. “Protecting national sovereignty and territorial integrity is also China’s unwavering determination. These two principles are not mutually exclusive, and are in line with protecting regional stability and principles of peace and order.”

Then, smiling broadly, he rose. His first news conference as prime minister was over.

Early signs are Mr. Li may prove a popular figure. He studied both law and the economy, is viewed as having risen on talent, not family connections, and as being pro-reform. Here are two representative comments from Sina Weibo, the country’s largest microblog:

“Li Keqiang doesn’t have an outstanding birth background but he was promoted by his ability. In a country like China, Li Keqiang’s promotion can be considered progress,” said a person with the name Pang Zai.

“Li Keqiang is very strong in both academics! and poli! tics. We need this kind of talent,” said Fengkuang Akira.