The Economist - USA (2022-05-21)

40 China The Economist May 21st 2022

Religiousfreedom

CardinalZen’s

cardinalsin

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ardinaljosephzenisnofriendofthe

ChineseCommunist Party. Since the re­

turnofHongKongto Chinese rule in 1997

hehasbeena thornin the party’s side, crit­

icising its human­rights  record  and  its

squeezing oftheformer  British  colony’s

autonomy.OnMay11th he was arrested un­

derthenewnational  security  law.  His  al­

legedcrimewasraising funds for activists

duringthepro­democracy protests of 2019.

Hewasreleasedonbail shortly after. 

Thoughit wasnot unexpected, Cardinal

Zen’sdetentionshocked  the  city,  whose

autonomy,evenfor  the  first  20  years  of

Chineserule,meant people enjoyed much

morereligiousfreedom than is allowed on

themainland.Catholics  and  Protestants

haveplayedabigrole  in  pro­democracy

movements,especially  in  2019.  But  since

thesecuritylawwas passed in 2020, many

haveretreatedfrompolitical activity. 

InJanuaryInternational Christian Con­

cern,anngo, warned that mainland bish­

ops hadmettheircounterparts  in  Hong

Kongtourgethemto preach “religion with

Chinese characteristics”.  The  party  has

builtrelationshipswith senior Catholics in

HongKong,mostof whom now sing from

the party’s hymn sheet,  promoting  dia­

logueandcompliance.  

JohnLee,HongKong’s chief executive­

elect,himselfaCatholic,  has  claimed  he

willprotectreligious freedom. But the ar­

restofCardinalZen, coming so soon after

MrLeewaschosen,sends a different mes­

sage.In 2020 China  installed  Xia  Baolong

asheadofHongKong  and  Macau  affairs.

Mr  Xia  was  previously  responsible  for  a

campaign  against  house  churches  in  Zhe­

jiang province.

Christians in Hong Kong are still free to

worship  publicly.  But  sermons  on  social

justice are now rare and many priests have

purged their social­media accounts. Some

tell  of  strangers  photographing  those  at­

tending  their  services.  Dissent  has  been

“completely silenced”, says one cleric. “The

arrest  of  Cardinal  Zen  is  a  concrete  sign

that the process of cracking down on reli­

gious freedom has begun.”  

The  moves  come  amid  a  much  bigger

shift in relations between the Vatican and

the Communist Party. After decades of ani­

mosity, Pope Francis began a process to im­

prove  the  relationship,  culminating  in  an

agreement with the party in 2018. It was a

compromise  that  acknowledged  the  pope

as head of the church and gave the Vatican

the final choice of bishops but allowed the

party  to  select  the  shortlist  in  China.  The

agreement was renewed in 2020, and is up

for renewal again in October.   

Easten  Law  of  Princeton  Theological

Seminary says the deal has helped the par­

ty  in  its  aim  to  “sinicise”  Catholicism,  by

discouraging  confrontation  and  persuad­

ing  Catholics  that  they  can  support  both

party  and  pope.  It  has  also  emboldened

some underground Catholics on the main­

land to worship more publicly. Still, it has

been widely criticised. It gives an avowedly

atheist political party an explicit say in the

internal  workings  of  a  Christian  church.

Many feel it has made it harder for the Vat­

ican  to  speak  truth  to  Chinese  power.  In

2019 Cardinal Zen called the Holy See’s ap­

proach to China “blatantly evil”.   

The  Vatican  theoretically  gained  more

influence  over  China’s  10m­12m  Catho­

lics—previously  it  could  not  engage  with

those  who  worshipped  in  government­

sanctioned  churches  and  had  little  access

to those loyal to the pope in secret. But only

six  Vatican­approved  bishops  have  been

appointed  since  2018.  Dozens  of  posts  re­

main  vacant,  suggesting  that  the  Chinese

government is not sticking to its side of the

deal.  Persecution  of  Catholics  has  contin­

ued. At least two bishops were detained in

2021 for refusing to toe the party line. Some

fear  the  pope  has  been  outfoxed.  “I  don’t

see how the Vatican has benefited from the

relationship,”  says  Fenggang  Yang  of  Pur­

due University in Indiana.   

The  Vatican  said  it  was  “concerned”

about  Cardinal  Zen’s  arrest.  All  Catholics

realise that Hong Kong is connected to the

bigger  relationship,  says  one  priest.  The

Vatican’s  weak  response  to  Cardinal  Zen’s

arrest was expected, he says, “but still I feel

disappointed.”  Having  spent  decades  as  a

separate  territory,  where  people  were  free

to  believewhatthey  wanted,  Hong  Kong

must  nowgetused  to  being  just  another

Chinese city.n

HongKongarrestsa Catholic priest

forsidingwithdemocrats

Turbulent priest

dan  and  Zimbabwe  have  visited  and  been

featured  in  state  media  praising  China’s

policies.  Such  countries  also  tend  to  vote

with  China  at  the  un.  Having  persuaded

most developing countries to support it or

abstain  on  issues  such  as  Xinjiang  and

Hong  Kong,  China  argues  that  only  a  few

jealous,  fading  Western  powers  object  to

its human­rights record.

The  negotiations  in  advance  of  Ms  Ba­

chelet’s  visit  have  been  fraught.  For  more

than three years, the unHuman Rights Of­

fice  has  been  working  on  a  report  about

atrocities  in  Xinjiang.  Scholars  consulted

say it includes many interviews with camp

survivors.  Researchers  have  collected  evi­

dence to support a “very strong condemna­

tion” of the Communist Party’s leadership,

says  Rune  Steenberg,  an  anthropologist

who  has  helped  the  team  translate.  When

and  how  that  evidence  is  released,  how­

ever, is not up to them.

Last December Ms Bachelet’s office said

the report would be released “in a matter of

a few weeks”. Then news reports suggested

that Chinese leaders had pressed her office

to withhold it until after the Winter Olym­

pics  in  February.  Meanwhile,  China  ap­

pointed  a  Uyghur  athlete  to  carry  the

Olympic  torch  at  its  opening  ceremony.

Bargaining  over  the  report  gave  China  a

“sports­washing  opportunity”,  says  Ray­

han  Asat,  a  human­rights  lawyer  who  is

fighting for her brother’s release.

Listening to the people

Governments and unagencies say they are

waiting  for  the  report  before  taking  new

actions, says Zumretay Arkin of the World

Uyghur Congress. Ms Bachelet’s office only

met her group this week, she says, after it

led  a  protest  in  Geneva  against  the  visit.

The  high  commissioner  has  yet  to  meet

any  ordinary  Uyghurs  or  their  leaders. It

should  be  Uyghurs,  not  the  Chinese  gov­

ernment,  “telling  her  where  our  families

are held”, says Ms Asat.

A spokesperson for Ms Bachelet’s office

said  this  week  that  the  report  would  only

be released after the trip. The Chinese au­

thorities will see it first and have a chance

to  share  their  views.  The  un cares  less

about  transparency  than  about  maintain­

ing  access  to  Chinese  leaders,  and  that

makes it harder to hold China accountable,

frets  Andrew  Bremberg,  America’s  former

ambassador to the unin Geneva.

If  Ms  Bachelet’s  team  disclosed  the

terms  they  agreed  to  for  the  visit,  govern­

ments  could  press  China  to  uphold  them,

he says. But without transparency, they are

handicapped.  “Now  you  own  it.  You  have

to  defend  the  value  of  the  trip  and  praise

China for [its] openness, knowing full well

it’s  not  true,”  says  Mr  Bremberg.  “This  is

how  these important  institutions  lose

their  credibility,by  not  being  truthful  or

transparent.”n