ROME (CWNews.com)

    China said on Friday the Vatican will never be given the opportunity to supplant Chinese bishops appointed by the Communist government and there will not be diplomatic relations until the Holy See rejects its formal recognition of Taiwan.

    Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhang Quiye told reporters during a visit by Prime Minister Zhu Rongji to Europe that no formal contacts had been made with the Vatican during the trip. She said, "Our policy is that China wants to improve relations with the Vatican but two principles must be followed. The Holy See must break diplomatic relations with Taiwan and recognize the People's Republic of China," and the Church must be not "interfere in internal Chinese affairs, exploiting religion to interfere in Chinese affairs."

    The Communist Chinese government requires Christians to worship only in state-controlled associations, including the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which eschews any connections to the Vatican or the Pope. Many Catholics worship in illegal, underground churches, following only bishops appointed by the Pope.

    Zhang said the Vatican could never replace the Patriotic Association, even if relations were established. "I am not an expert on ecclesiastical affairs but I know the Patriotic Association will continue to exist," she said. "The Chinese ecclesiastical situation is based on a compatibility with historical and national conditions. This won't ever change." She added that the association exists because of "the desire of the mass of Chinese believers."

    China has recently bucked behind-the-scenes overtures by the Holy See to establish ties by appointing its own bishops to head the Patriotic Association without consulting the Vatican or seeking the approval of the Holy Father.

    This hypocrisy runs deep as Fides reports despite the rhetoric from Chinese Prime Minster Zhu Rongji who said the Communist country is "firmly opposed" to illegal emigration even as a human avalanche flees the Asian giant in search of freedom and a better life.

    Public outrage over the tragic death of 58 Chinese immigrants, whose bodies were found at Dover, England, two weeks ago after suffocating in a Dutch truck is still acute, as the Premier visiting Europe, broached the subject of clandestine immigration and asked for cooperation from the international community: "In China we have laws to ban and prohibit such illegal immigration, but the international gangs are also shrewd and therefore we need international cooperation to root out the problem."

    Traditionally, routes for human-trafficking were directed towards the United States and Canada. In recent years Latin America was included, but mainly as a springboard for North America. However since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Europe seems to be the most popular destination.

    It is estimated that in the mid-1990s as many as 800,000 mainland Chinese were waiting in former Soviet territories, Russia, Bulgaria, and Poland, for an opportunity to migrate to Western Europe or North America. US sources estimate that at least 100,000 mainlanders illegally leave their homeland every year. The route across former-Communist countries is the easiest if they have money: because of lax visa requirements and easily corrupted officials, Chinese can even travel by air across the frontier.

    With debts up to US$40,000 to pay off their illegal journeys, most migrants are then forced to accept any sort of work and are often "slaves" of the immigration organization.

    One of the most popular destinations of illegal Chinese immigrants has always been Canada's west coast: Vancouver has about 400,000 Chinese migrants, about a third of the population. All the 600 boat people who arrived in the summer of 1999 in four decrepit cargo ships applied for refugee status. Many claimed they were members of the banned Falun Gong religious sect, while most of the women said they had been forced to undergo abortions under the "one child" policy in China. However only 12 claimants won refugee status and were allowed to stay. Of 100 released on bail, most have gone missing, while the rest are still appealing against expulsion.

    For some regions of China, such as Fujian, illegal emigration is not a new phenomenon: The Chinese diaspora of Southeast Asia has been populated by Fujianese and Hakka migrants as well as Guangdong natives over the past several hundred years. In these regions many villages are empty of working age people, and the elderly mind their grandchildren while parents work overseas.

    The phenomenon is due to the increased mobility of Chinese society, with rural workers moving into cities, and also growing unemployment. In 1999 alone, jobless people increased by another 6 million. To get away, people even put their lives in the hands of illegal immigration gangs who abandon them to their fate. According to sources in Hong Kong not many illegal emigrants claim they are fleeing religious persecution. Very often it is the government which prefers to expel religious personalities or democracy activists, who refuse to bend to the control of the regime.

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