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Reuters

Taiwan accused Beijing of trying to make it “irrelevant” in the world community on Tuesday, after Beijing and the Vatican signed a landmark agreement improving ties.
Matthew Lee, Taiwan’s envoy to the Vatican, made the dig in a speech during a reception marking Taiwan’s national day that was attended by Vatican officials, including several directly involved in the negotiations with Beijing.
“Communist China remains committed to making the Taiwan people irrelevant to the United Nations and to excluding Taiwan from playing a meaningful role both in the United Nations family and in the international communities,” he said.
﻿Watch: The relationship between Beijing and Taipei explained


On September 22, the Vatican and Beijing signed a provisional agreement giving the Holy See a long-desired say in the appointment of bishops in mainland China.
In the first concrete sign of a thaw after the signing of the agreement, the Vatican announced on Monday that Beijing would for the first time allow Chinese bishops to attend a major Vatican meeting, known as a synod, that starts on Wednesday.
Although the Vatican insists its deal with Beijing is not political – which Lee emphasised in his speech – diplomats say it is likely a precursor to the Vatican eventually switching diplomatic recognition to Beijing.
Pope’s pact with Beijing just the start of the battle for influence
Lee, adopting a Biblical comparison, said Taiwan was David and China was Goliath.
“With the assistance of global partners standing up to the rising autocratic authoritarian power [of Beijing] Taiwan will persist, persevere and prevail,” Lee said.
But the ranks of those partners has been thinning.

The Vatican is Taiwan’s last remaining diplomatic ally in Europe. The self-ruled island has formal relations with 16 other countries, many of them small, less-developed nations in Central America and the Pacific.
Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province, has routinely accused Beijing of using dollar diplomacy and bullying to lure away its allies, charges Beijing has denied.
What does the agreement on bishop appointments mean for China’s Catholics?
Since the 1970s, following the United Nations vote to recognise the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal China, the Vatican has not appointed a nuncio, or ambassador, to Taiwan.
It has since kept the status of its mission in Taipei at the lower level of “charge d’affaires ad interim”, which diplomats say is to placate Beijing.
Watch: Beijing knocked down church in January


Critics have labelled the agreement between the Vatican and Beijing, which was in the making for more than 10 years, as a sell-out to the communist government.
Mainland China’s approximately 12 million Catholics have been split between an underground Church swearing loyalty to the Vatican and the state-supervised Catholic Patriotic Association.
Hong Kong, Taiwan Catholics upbeat over Vatican deal
Despite the recent agreement, Beijing has not taken any action on long-held Church concerns over clerics in detention, Catholic Church sources familiar with the matter have said.


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Taiwan

Taiwan accuses Beijing of trying to make it ‘irrelevant’ with Vatican deal

Mainland China’s approximately 12 million Catholics have been split between an underground Church swearing loyalty to the Vatican and the state-supervised Catholic Patriotic Association. Photo: Reuters

FILE. Pope Francis(L), and Republic of China Ambassador to the Holy See Matthew Lee. Photo: Divisione Produzione Fotografica

Hong Kong, Taiwan Catholics upbeat over Vatican deal

Worshippers at masses in Hong Kong and Taiwan on Sunday were largely upbeat about a new deal between China and the Vatican. Photo: AFP

Worshippers leave after a service at the Holy Family Church in Taipei on September 23, 2018. - Worshippers at masses in Hong Kong and Taiwan on September 23 were largely upbeat about a new deal between China and the Vatican despite fears Beijing is trying to up control of the Church. (Photo by Daniel SHIH / AFP)

A priest talks to an altar boy at the Holy Family Church in Taipei on September 23, 2018. - Worshippers at masses in Hong Kong and Taiwan on September 23 were largely upbeat about a new deal between China and the Vatican despite fears Beijing is trying to up control of the Church. (Photo by Daniel SHIH / AFP)

Two Chinese Catholic bishops to attend synod for first time after Vatican-Beijing deal

Bishop John Baptist Yang Xiaoting had been ordained with papal permission. Photo: Sina

(centre)Bishop Joseph Guo Jincai. Photo: SINA

With a historic pact, the Vatican continues its battle with Beijing for Chinese hearts and minds

Pope Francis greets a crowd at St Peter’s Square in the Vatican City, including a member of the faithful waving a Chinese flag. By one estimate, China’s Christian population has swelled from a few million in the early 1980s to 100 million this year – in comparison, the Communist Party has 90 million members. Photo: AFP

=== PHOTO CAPTURED FROM WEIBO === Since Sunday, a subway train devoted to promoting the political doctrine of President Xi Jinping has started running in Changchun, a provincial capital in ChinaÕs northeastern rust belt. Named after XiÕs ÒNew EraÓ, the trainÕs interior is painted in red, with over 30 of XiÕs catchphrases pasted on its walls, doors, windows and seats. Photo: WEIBO.

What does the Vatican agreement on bishop appointments mean for China’s Catholics?

Some underground worshippers fear there is little for them in the deal

Pope Francis delivers his message during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018. Pope Francis on Wednesday urged Chinese Catholics to overcome past divisions and open a new phase of faith following a landmark agreement over bishop nominations aimed at ending decades of estrangement between the Vatican and Beijing that had split the church. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Bishop Joseph Li Shan leads a mass at the South Cathedral in Beijing on September 22, 2018. - China and the Vatican will push to improve bilateral ties after the two sides signed a "provisional" agreement on the appointment of bishops, the Chinese foreign ministry said on September 22, 2018. (Photo by Nicolas ASFOURI / AFP)

A worn bible is seen at the new government-sanctioned Catholic cathedral in Xincun, in China's central Henan province on August 12, 2018. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)

FILE PHOTO: A man decorates a government-sanctioned Catholic church a day before Easter in Youtong village, Hebei province, China, March 31, 2018. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File Photo

Many Catholics in China, especially younger followers, have admitted to being unaware of the rift between Beijing and Rome. Photo: AP

Pope admits underground Chinese Catholics will suffer after Vatican deal with Beijing

Pope Francis said there had been precedents for states naming bishops. Photo: AFP

A woman leaves the Christian Glory church in Wuhan on September 23, 2018. - The landmark deal between China and the Vatican is a win for Beijing, giving official recognition to bishops appointed by the government despite a crackdown on religion, and potentially softening the ground for full diplomatic relations after 67 years of estrangement, analysts said. (Photo by Nicolas ASFOURI / AFP) / TO GO WITH China-Vatican-religion-politics, FOCUS by Dan Martin

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Taipei’s envoy to the Vatican says ‘communist China remains committed to making the Taiwan people irrelevant to the United Nations’


Island’s envoy to the Vatican says ‘communist China remains committed to making the Taiwan people irrelevant to the United Nations’.


China-Vatican relations

Religion in China

Catholic Church

Taiwan accuses Beijing of trying to make it ‘irrelevant’ with Vatican deal

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Taipei’s envoy to the Vatican says ‘communist China remains committed to making the Taiwan people irrelevant to the United Nations’

Taipei’s envoy to the Vatican says ‘communist China remains committed to making the Taiwan people irrelevant to the United Nations’