Hong Kong’s outspoken Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun and veteran democrat politician Martin Lee Chu-ming had not yet collected their luggage at Lisbon airport when they were approached by a policeman among the hundreds of tourists arriving in the Portuguese capital. “Somebody walked up to me and asked if I was Cardinal Zen. I said, ‘Not me, but him’, and pointed to Zen. Then he said he was a policeman and he was coming to protect us. So I was surprised,” said Lee, the founding chairman of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party. The encounter took place on August 21, one day before a conference organised by the International Catholic Legislators Network was held in Fátima, a Catholic holy city in Portugal that draws thousands of worshippers each year. The Hong Kong pair were attending the International Pilgrimage for Politicians and Family Summit, which gathered more than 100 high-profile believers from August 22 to 25, including US President Donald Trump ’s acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. During the private gathering, the group of religious and political leaders talked about issues such as human rights and religious freedom. They also discussed this summer’s anti-government protests in Hong Kong that have on occasion led to violence and vandalism, as well as Sino-Vatican relations. According to Lee and Zen, their presence as well as these two topics attracted the attention of the Chinese embassy in Lisbon, and conference organisers were under pressure to cancel the pair’s invitations. This Week in Asia repeatedly tried to reach the International Catholic Legislators Network, which describes itself as “an independent and non-partisan international initiative to bring together practising Catholics and other Christians in elected office”, for comment, but was unsuccessful. Portugal: a new home for those who fear Hong Kong’s fate? Questions were also sent to the Chinese embassies in Portugal and Austria, as well as the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but no response was forthcoming. A spokesman for the Portuguese foreign ministry said it was aware “people linked to the Chinese embassy in Lisbon were in the premises where the International Catholic Legislators Network [event] was taking place”. However, the spokesman denied claims in the Portuguese media that a Chinese agent had been detained and then released due to diplomatic immunity. The spokesman said “there was no Chinese citizen or citizen of other nationality detained during that occasion by the Portuguese authorities”. The spokesman said the ministry had sent queries on the matter to Chinese authorities to guarantee that Portuguese laws and the Vienna Convention – an international treaty that sets out a framework for diplomatic relations – were being respected. “The ministry used the appropriate diplomatic channels, and, after explanations provided by the Chinese authorities, it is considered a closed matter,” he said. WATCHFUL EYES Lee and Zen were the only participants from Hong Kong to have attended the conference in Fátima, about 120km (75 miles) from Lisbon. Upon arrival, Lee was told he had been moved to the Consolata Hotel – where the conference was held – for security reasons. “The organiser, [an Austrian individual from the International Catholic Legislators Network], told us the reason,” Lee said. “The Chinese embassy in Austria sent some people to see him. But by that time, he had already left Austria for Portugal. “Then, in Portugal, I don’t know if the Chinese ambassador himself – or someone he sent – asked the organisers to disinvite us.” This Week in Asia was unable to reach the Austrian organiser for comment. According to the former lawmaker, after the request from the Chinese embassy was rejected, Beijing suggested having a representative at the conference. “I was told they offered the name of a Chinese businessman in Portugal … not a Catholic, not a legislator, but a businessman … So the organiser said ‘no’,” Lee said. Lee said the organisers eventually accepted a request to distribute two sheets of paper at the conference, on which the Chinese ambassador in Portugal set out Beijing’s views on two matters: the Vatican-China agreement, signed in September last year, and the protests in Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s Christians attend extradition bill protests in good faith While the details of the meeting as well as its guest list were shrouded in secrecy, at least a handful of policemen were stationed at the entrance to the Consolata Hotel, according to Lee and staff at other hotels on the same street. “We saw several police cars and there were at least five or six policemen in uniform at the front of the hotel. We felt the security measures were tighter than usual, but we did not know exactly what was happening there,” said a staff member at a hotel close to the venue. The staff member said it was unusual to see any policemen at the hotel, though security often increased on the weekends. Lee said he had been told that Chinese agents were monitoring the place, and that they were allegedly taking photos from a hotel opposite to the event’s venue as well as watching some participants when they were outside. Several Portuguese media outlets also ran stories reporting that Chinese agents were in Fátima. The weekly magazine Sábado ran a cover story headlined “Chinese spies caught in Fátima”. Sábado claimed staff from the Chinese embassy had mounted “an operation to sabotage the meeting” because of the presence of the Hong Kong representatives, and said their work included taking photos of the participants, trying to break into the Consolata Hotel and following some attendees. WHY ‘SO WORRIED’? Despite the circumstances, Lee did not feel his safety had been at risk. “They would not be so stupid, because people would know,” he said. The barrister said he had been a target of the Chinese authorities for more than 20 years. “Whenever I leave Hong Kong for meetings or awards, they do something. They tell people not to meet me, or to cancel the award, or to limit the time of my speech,” Lee said. Retired bishop Zen, who spoke at the event about religious freedom and Vatican-China relations, described the alleged incident as “silly”. “We were at a very private meeting, and [there was] much praying besides the meeting, because we were in Fátima. They had nothing to be worried about. We gave no interviews and no responses,” said Zen, a strong supporter of democratic reform and an open critic of Beijing. “The meeting was about family, human rights and religious freedom. We were all Catholic, so we talked about ourselves. So why were they so worried?” the cardinal said. Vatican will improve bishop agreement with Beijing to help reunite underground churches Zen, among the most senior Catholic clerics in China , has previously accused the Vatican of “selling out” mainland Chinese Catholics to normalise ties with Beijing. The Vatican signed on September 22 last year a “provisional” but controversial agreement in which both Beijing and the Holy See have a say in appointing Catholic bishops in China. The rapprochement has divided China’s 12 million Catholics, who have been split between an underground church loyal to the Vatican, and the Catholic Patriotic Association, supervised by the Communist Party. Shun-hing Chan, a professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, said the Hong Kong protests and Sino-Vatican relations were sensitive topics that could prompt a reaction by the Chinese embassy in Portugal. Chan, an expert in religion and social movements, said Beijing was concerned about protesters being able to elicit the Vatican’s sympathy and help in spreading their word around the world. Christian leaders and communities in Hong Kong were among opponents of the extradition bill, and the Christian hymn Sing Hallelujah to the Lord initially emerged as a sort of anthem of the protests – although its use often had little to do with faith. “Beijing is monitoring closely the Christian activism, and they have tried to influence public opinion as well as send a warning sign to those who have joined the protests,” Chan said. Kerry Brown, professor of Chinese studies and director of the Lau China Institute at King’s College in London, said China had become more proactive about “putting its message across” and this phenomenon would probably increase. “The main challenge for China though is that almost any sort of lobbying or involvement like this risks being viewed negatively and therefore being counterproductive,” he said. “China is in a quandary – doomed if it does try to influence things, and doomed if it doesn’t.”