"Jimmy Lai, Cardinal Joseph Zen, Tonyee Chow Hang-tung, Gwyneth Ho, Lee Cheuk-Yan, and Joshua Wong were nominated because they are ardent champions of Hong Kong's autonomy, human rights, and the rule of law as guaranteed under the Sino-British Declaration and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights," the announcement from the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China reads.

"The nominees are representative of millions of Hong Kongers who peacefully opposed the steady erosion of the city's democratic freedoms by the Hong Kong government and the government of the People's Republic of China. Through the nomination, the members of Congress seek to honor all those in Hong Kong whose bravery and determination in the face of repression has inspired the world."

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Zen was first arrested in May on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces under a Beijing-imposed National Security Law.

While Zen has not yet been charged with national security-related charges, he and the five others were charged with failing to properly register the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund.

The fund helped pay medical and legal fees for arrested protesters.

The fund was established in 2019 and ceased operations in October 2021.

Zen, alongside singer Denise Ho, scholar Hui Po Keung, and former pro-democracy lawmakers Margaret Ng and Cyd Ho, were trustees of the fund. They were each fined 4,000 Hong Kong dollars (NZD820).

A sixth defendant, Sze Ching-wee, was the fund's secretary and was fined HK$2500 (NZD512).

Cardinal Zen, who has long been a staunch advocate of democratic rights and freedoms and a critic of the Chinese Communist Party, stressed that the fund had aimed to help people in need.

"I'm just a Hong Kong citizen who strongly supports providing humanitarian assistance," he said after the verdict.

"Although I'm a religious figure, I hope this [case] won't be associated with our freedom of religion. It's not related."

The Societies Ordinance requires local organisations to register or apply for an exemption within a month of their establishment.

Those who failed to do so face a fine of up to HK$10,000 ($1,273), with no jail time, upon first conviction.

Handing down the verdict, Principal Magistrate Ada Yim ruled that the fund is considered an organisation that is obliged to register as it was not purely for charity purposes.

The judgement holds significance as it is the first time that residents had to face a charge under the ordinance for failing to register, Ng told reporters after the hearing.

"The effect to other people, to the many, many citizens who are associated together to do one thing or another, and what will happen to them, is very important," the veteran lawyer said.

"It is also extremely important about the freedom of association in Hong Kong under Societies Ordinance."

Even after this verdict, authorities could still take further action against Cardinal Zen and the other five as police investigate an accusation of "collusion with foreign forces".

Commenting on the sentence, Gianni Criveller in UCANews.com says: that many in Hong Kong consider it as an intimidation measure aimed at sending a warning to those who have believed and hoped in democracy.

Calling it "an unprecedented fact for Hong Kong", Criveller says the guilty sentence against a popular religious leader, an unprecedented fact for Hong Kong.

Balancing his "unprecedented" comment, Criveller also observes that the modest size of the fine suggests a low-profile way to close a story that was embarrassing for the Hong Kong police, judiciary and political authorities.

The Vatican had expressed concern for the safety of Cardinal Zen, though it stopped short of explicitly criticising authorities at the time.

Sources

• ABC
• AP News
• UCANews.com
• CathNews New Zealand

This 2019 legislation would have allowed extradition to the People's Republic of China. Many residents viewed this as a subversion of Hong Kong's semi-autonomous political system, leading to large-scale protests, political unrest and a police crackdown. It also prompted Beijing's further direct intervention in Hong Kong's governance.

For the Chinese Communist Party, this organization's support of protesters and alleged collusion with foreign forces violated the party-mandated national security law. This law has since been applied retroactively.

A retired bishop of the Hong Kong Diocese, Cardinal Zen has long supported Hong Kong protesters, critiqued Beijing and criticized the Vatican's rapprochement with the Chinese Communist Party. Chinese Catholics see the arrest as an attempt to intimidate and prevent activism among Hong Kong's Catholic community.

To understand why the Chinese Communist Party would feel intimidated by a 90-year-old man and threaten him with life in prison, it is important to go beyond narrow, concrete effects - such as a cowed Catholic community - and identify the principles held by the leadership. As a former military diplomat currently researching the link between philosophy and foreign policy, I argue that Cardinal Zen's threat to the Chinese Communist Party lies not in his support for democratic reform, but as a competing source of political authority.

The party's morality of hierarchy

The Chinese Communist Party leadership continues to be shaped by the principles of classical Chinese philosophy. Despite official condemnation during the Mao years, the party has more recently tried to bolster the foundations of classical Chinese thought to legitimize its own rule.

During a 1997 speech at Harvard University, Jiang Zemin - then the general secretary of the party - praised classical Chinese thought and tied it to contemporary values and the state's development. Today, General Secretary Xi Jinping routinely mentions classical philosophy in his speeches and noted at the 19th National Congress that the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics will build upon Chinese culture's traditional vision, concepts, values and moral norms.

Classical Chinese ethics begin with the existential centrality of the family. Fan Ruiping, a researcher in Confucian ethics at the City University of Hong Kong, notes Confucianism sees the family as the basic structure of human existence, not simply a social institution. Thus, the family becomes the standard against which behavior is judged. For example, to protect the family, Confucius argues it is moral for a son to hide the misconduct of his father.

According to the Yongle Emperor, an emperor who ruled in the 15th century, the entire world is a single family. Within this system, one's position is defined by one's role, grounded in the five Confucian relationships: ruler to subject, father to son, husband to wife, elder brother to younger brother, and friend to friend. Each of these is both reciprocal and hierarchical. The moral individual conforms to the role one fills in society and treats others according to theirs.

Even in contemporary Chinese society, friends treat each other as elder and younger siblings, such that in any situation there is a hierarchical relationship - an older friend is addressed as "elder brother" or "elder sister." In calling another "elder brother," one's own position in that reciprocal relationship - "younger" - becomes obvious.

Through identification of the family as the moral standard and its extension throughout society based on the five relationships, Confucianism views a moral society as a unified family, ordered hierarchically. At the top of the hierarchy sits the emperor, whose relationship with subjects mirrors that between father and son. One serves the rulers as one would serve one's father or elder brother.

In this view, society is well organized when each person fills the assigned role, paying appropriate deference to those above and acting benevolently toward those below. As Confucius stated, "The ruler is the ruler; the minister is minister; the father is father; and the son is son. That is government."

According to Confucianism, order, stability and prosperity are maintained when all subjects fill their proper roles. The danger of ignoring this lesson was highlighted by the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, when Chairman Mao Zedong used students to attack those in the party who opposed him. It was also evident in the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, when the party allowed the students to develop moral authority and had to resort to military force to crush peaceful student protests. The consequences of losing control was made stark two years later when the Soviet Union collapsed.

Cardinal Zen and challenge to hierarchy

According to its moral principles, the party can tolerate no competition for authority, and has a long history of eliminating those who present a challenge to the party's position. For example, following the 1956-57 Hundred Flowers Campaign that encouraged engagement from intellectuals, Mao Zedong used the Anti-Rightist Campaign to eliminate their growing authority. This campaign sought to refute anti-regime commentary made by intellectuals, punishing about 550,000 of them, many with reform through labor.

More recently, Xi Jinping has used an anti-corruption drive to eliminate intra-party challenges to his authority by purging prominent figures, such as Zhou Yongkang, retired public security chief and former member of the Politburo Standing Committee. In Hong Kong, the national security law has been used to charge publisher and democracy activist Jimmy Lai, whose media holdings regularly criticize the Hong Kong and Chinese Communist Party leadership.

The principle of hierarchy can also be used to understand and predict how events can unfold. For example, if Cardinal Zen dies in custody, he could become a martyr of the protest movement - hardly ideal for the Chinese Communist Party. Still, the leadership's philosophy suggests it would be even worse for the party to let Zen continue his activism and become a more active threat to its moral and political monopoly.

Additionally, arresting a cardinal could disrupt ties with the Vatican. However, as political scientist Lawrence Reardon demonstrates, since 1949 the party's chief concern in relations with the Vatican has been whether the pope or the party appoints bishops within the People's Republic of China. In other words, who sits atop the Catholic hierarchy within the People's Republic of China is more important than anything else the party gains through relations with the Vatican.

To remain at the pinnacle of China's moral hierarchy, the party will need to remove alternative sources of authority. Through his criticism of the party and the Vatican, Cardinal Zen has shown the potential of transforming into a political leader in his own right.

As a possible alternative source of authority, Cardinal Zen has become the latest victim of the party's moral hierarchy; he will not be the last.

• Scott D. McDonald is a Non-resident Fellow of the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies; he is also a PhD Candidate at The Fletcher School, Tufts University.
• Published with permission of Religion News Service

Zen, 90, was to have stood trial beginning Monday in connection to his role as a trustee of a pro-democracy legal fund, which he and other trustees are accused of failing to register civilly. Zen is the bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, an outspoken advocate for religious freedom and democracy, and a sharp critic of the Vatican's 2018 agreement with Beijing on the appointment of bishops.

Local media reported over the weekend that the trial — originally set to begin on 19 September and expected to conclude with a verdict on 23 September — has been delayed by at least two days because Permanent Magistrate Ada Yim Shun-yee, the judge overseeing the case, contracted COVID-19. Zen has been free on bail since early May.

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In an interview with Reuters, Francis discussed the China deal first struck in 2018 and to be renewed every two years.

The agreement was put in place to ease a longstanding divide across mainland China between an underground flock loyal to the pope and a state-backed official church.

Both sides now recognise the pope as the supreme leader of the Catholic Church.

The accord, which is still provisional, centres on cooperation over the appointment of bishops. It gives the pope the final say.

"The agreement is moving well and I hope that in October it can be renewed," Francis said.

There has been some criticism of the accord and not just because the details have been kept private.

One of the deal's most vocal opponents is Cardinal Joseph Zen, 90, the former archbishop of Hong Kong.

"The Vatican may have acted out of good faith but they have made an unwise decision," Zen told a gathering on Hong Kong island last month.

Archbishop Zen prayed for "brothers and sisters who cannot attend the Mass in any form tonight - for they have no freedom now".

Zen and others have accused the Vatican of turning a blind eye to human rights violations in China.

However, Francis defended the agreement as being the statecraft of working with the little available and trying to improve it.

"Diplomacy is like that. When you face a blocked situation, you have to find the possible way, not the ideal way out of it," Francis said.

"Diplomacy is the art of the possible and of doing things to make the possible become a reality," he said.

Only six new bishops have been appointed since the deal, which its opponents say proves it is not producing the desired effects.

The pope called the slow process "'the Chinese way,' because the Chinese have that sense of time that nobody can rush them".

Meanwhile, the European Parliament has urged the Catholic institution to defend religious freedom in Hong Kong, as some Catholics and other religious minorities face growing persecution in the country.

The European Parliament called on the Holy See to "strengthen its diplomatic efforts and its leverage on the Chinese authorities" in a resolution made on July 7.

The EU resolution encouraged the Vatican "to give full support to Cardinal Zen and other religious leaders who face persecution or the risk of detention under the national security regime in Hong Kong".

Cardinal Zen was arrested by Chinese authorities on May 11 alongside four other pro-democracy activists.

The cardinal was released a day later and his trial is expected to take place on September 19. Zen has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The European Parliament called on the Vatican "to demand that all charges against Cardinal Zen be dropped and (for) an end to persecution and human rights violations."

Sources

Reuters

Religion News

Give young people a reason to trust authority, Bishop Stephen Chow of Hong Kong suggests in a special message published last Friday.

Among the advantages he lists is a greater sense of unity in a pluralistic Hong Kong.

Hong Kong's past 25 years as a Special Administrative Region "have been very challenging," he says.

At the same time he acknowledges "the goodness, generosity and resilience we have witnessed among the people of Hong Kong."

Chow also offered prayers for young people. He asked God to bless those struggling "with empathic understanding and meaningful support from the others".

He also prayed youth would be empowered by support allowing them "to have dreams again". He hoped they would be able to "make positive differences for their future and that of Hong Kong".

He closed pledging his faith in God and asking for God to bestow "abundant blessings on China and the Chinese People".

Since June 2020, hundreds of Hong Kong activists have been arrested in the crackdown. They include prominent Catholic figures like Cardinal Joseph Zen who is 90 years old..

In March Monsignor Javier Herrera-Corona, the Vatican's unofficial representative in Hong Kong, referenced a national security crackdown by Beijing on Hong Kong in the wake of anti-government protests in 2019.

He told the city's 50-odd Catholic missions the freedoms they had enjoyed for decades were over and warned missionary colleagues to protect their missions' property, files and funds.

"Change is coming, and you'd better be prepared," Corona warned the missionaries. One says in short Corona warned: "Hong Kong is not the great Catholic beachhead it was."

The Rev. Jonathan Aitken, a former UK Cabinet minister, says religious freedom in Hong Kong is "next on the hit list by the destructive forces" of Chinese President Xi Jinping's regime.

He says Xi and his regime are particularly hostile to faith groups.

China's crackdown on Christians on the mainland is leaving them facing the worst persecution since Mao's Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, Aitken claims.

He says persecution of Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners and Hui Muslims has intensified. He also says China's persecution of Uyghurs is increasingly being recognised by international critics as genocide.

Source

• U.S. News
• Crux Now
• Crux Now

According to Catholic News Agency, the 90-year-old cardinal, who was arrested with four other pro-democracy advocates, was a trustee of a relief fund used to bail out protesters and pay legal fees.

The five arrestees are charged with not registering the charity with the government. All five have submitted pleas of not guilty.

Zen is set to stand trial on Sept. 19. He has stated he plans to celebrate a Catholic Mass on May 24 in honour of Our Lady, Help of Christians.

The cardinal was arrested last week alongside a group of other freedom activists in the Chinese island city. Zen has repeatedly warned the Vatican of increasing government persecution of religious minorities and anti-communist public figures but has historically received next to no response.

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Cardinal Zen, 90, is one of four people detained for being associated with a now-defunct fund that helped protesters in financial need.

The fund was set up to offer legal advice, psychological counselling and emergency financial aid to those injured, arrested or jailed for their involvement in the mass pro-democracy demonstrations that swept Hong Kong in 2019.

Zen became the bishop of Hong Kong in 2002, a post he held until his retirement in 2009.

As bishop emeritus, Zen has been an outspoken voice as both a strong supporter of democracy and civil liberties in Hong Kong. He has also been a fierce critic of the Vatican's provisional agreement with Chinese authorities signed in 2018.

"It's a way to keep people in fear," Peter (not his real name), a Chinese Catholic, said of Zen's arrest.

Peter said that he saw the election of John Lee as the new Hong Kong chief executive on May 8 as a key reason behind the arrest of the 90-year-old Catholic cardinal and others.

He suggested it was a gesture from Lee "that shows that he's loyal to the party and he's going to be tough on forces that are against the party."

"So [Lee] wants to demonstrate that he is loyal" to Beijing and, at the same time, that "he is a man of action," he said. He added there is a Chinese proverb that goes something like "a new governor has to show his muscle and strength."

"This probably foretells that in the future, Hong Kong will become less free, more controlled," Peter said. "And the Catholic Church in Hong Kong as an organised institution will be carefully, closely watched."

Lee is a baptised Catholic who formerly served as Hong Kong's security chief and "played a leading role in the crackdown on the pro-democracy protests," according to the Eurasia Group.

Lee will officially begin his five-year term on July 1, succeeding Carrie Lam, another Catholic, who held the post since 2017.

Other Chinese Catholics have expressed both fear and sadness at Zen's arrest.

"Cardinal Zen is known as a voice of truth," another anonymous Chinese Catholic told CNA.

The source said that the cardinal was seen as someone unafraid to share what is happening to the Catholic community rather than "repeating what someone else has told him to say."

Sources

Catholic News Agency

Catholic News Service

The Australian

BBC

The statement refers to the Security Police's arrest of the 90-year old in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

Hours later, Zen was released on bail.

He and three of four other trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund were arrested. (The fourth is already in jail.)

Zen, cultural studies scholar Hui Po-keung, barrister Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee and gay rights activist and pop singer Denise Ho Wan-see are are suspected of:

"Making requests of foreign or overseas agencies, imposing sanctions on the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (and) endangering national security," according to a Police statement.

In 2020, a sweeping National Security Law came into force, criminalising previously protected civil liberties under the headings of "sedition" and "foreign collusion".

The law crushes dissent and can carry up to life in jail.

Zen is an outspoken supporter of the pro-democracy movement.

Before the law's implementation, many Catholics, including Zen, warned that it could be used to silence the Church in Hong Kong.

The Fund

The 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund was set up to help 2019 pro-democracy protests pay legal and medical fees. The protests were squashed by security forces.

The Fund was disbanded last year after the national security police ordered it to share operational details.

This is just the beginning.

A police statement says those arrested had been ordered to surrender their travel documents and would be released on bail.

Further arrests are pending, it warns.

Condemnation for the arrests has come quickly

Benedict Rogers, who founded NGO Hong Kong Watch and is a convert to Catholicism, says: "Today's arrests signal beyond a doubt that Beijing intends to intensify its crackdown on basic rights and freedoms in Hong Kong.

"We urge the international community to shine a light on this brutal crackdown and call for the immediate release of these activists."

The cross-party All-Party Parliamentary Group for Freedom of Religion or Belief tweeted "This is yet another example of China's increasing restrictions of fundamental human rights."

David Alton, an independent member of the House of Lords, described the cardinal's arrest as "an act of outrageous intimidation."

Earlier this week, former security chief John Lee was named as Hong Kong's next chief executive, succeeding Carrie Lam,.

Like Lam, Lee is a baptised Catholic.

The Hong Kong Catholic diocese also issued a statement on the arrest of Zen, a leading figure in the organisation, for the first time on Thursday afternoon.

"The Catholic diocese of Hong Kong is extremely concerned about the condition and safety of Cardinal Joseph Zen and we are offering our special prayers for him," it said.

The diocese added that it had always upheld the rule of law and trusted it would "continue enjoying religious freedom in Hong Kong under the Basic Law" in the future.

"We urge the Hong Kong police and the judicial authorities to handle Cardinal Zen's case in accordance with justice, taking into consideration our concrete human situation," it added, without elaborating on what situation it was referring to.

Source

• The Standard
• Catholic News Agency
• Catholic News Agency
• AP News
• The Wall Street Journal
• South China Morning Post
• Image:UCA News

Zen flew to Rome to deliver his letter so it could be delivered without delay to the pope.

His request came while Vatican diplomats are working against the clock to refresh the Vatican's September 2018 deal with Beijing on the appointment of bishops.

Many people are picking one of Hong Kong's vicars general, Father Peter Choi, may be named as the new prelate.

Choi is held to be "close" to Beijing.

If Choi were appointed, it would sideline Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing.

The Auxiliary Bishop is a critic of the Chinese and Hong Kong governments. He is also close to Zen.

"This year we are waiting in Hong Kong to have our bishop. It's more than one and a half years that we have no bishop. And now the whole atmosphere is very much political, so I would like to remind the Holy Father that we really need a bishop who is a good shepherd for the flock," Zen says.

"I remember that at the beginning of his [Francis's] pontificate, he gave many recommendations: ‘A bishop should be like this and they should not be like that …'

"And so, I hope he remembers all those things ... and not to pay too much importance to the political aspect of the problem."

Source

• UCA News
• Image: UCA News

Sarah (pictured), is head of the Vatican's liturgy office and is supposedly the highest-ranking signatory.

However, he claims he never signed the petition.

Sarah's claim is contradicted by the archbishop who spearheaded the petition, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano.

Vigano says Sarah was fully on board and he has the recorded phone conversations to prove it.

The virus petition was signed mostly by Italian clergy, academics and journalists.

It is the latest initiative conservatives have used to frame COVID-19 lockdowns as an assault on religious liberty, a threat to the global economy and a conspiracy to separate families.

The petition calls the pandemic a "pretext" by unnamed actors to manipulate and control people through panic and deprive them of their fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of worship.

The petition also says contact-tracing devices, required vaccinations and "criminalised" visits between grandparents and grandchildren are "a disturbing prelude to the realization of a world government beyond all control."

Vigano is the former Holy See diplomat who achieved notoriety with his 2018 j'accuse of a high-level Vatican cover-up of sex abuse.

He has since reacted negatively to everything from the Vatican's China policy to Pope Francis's outreach to Muslims and the Amazon synod.

Other prominent signatories include three other conservative cardinals who have been critical of Francis' papacy.

One is the ousted prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Mueller and another is the retired archbishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen.

The petition was issued last Thursday, the same day the Italian government and the bishops conference reached an agreement to resume Masses from 18 May so long as strict protocols are followed.

Source

• US News
• Image: CruxNow

Speaking at a conference entitled "Christianity in the Chinese Society: Impact, Interaction and Inculturation" in Rome late last week, Cardinal John Tong Hon said he supports the proposed agreement.

The agreement would see the Vatican propose a shortlist of candidates for a bishop's post.

The Patriotic Association, a body set up by the Chinese government to govern Catholic affairs, would select the bishops from the list.

While Hon's predecessor, Cardinal Joseph Zen, opposes the arrangement, Hon - who is Hong Kong's bishop emeritus - says he believes the Chinese government has generally become more tolerant.

In his opinion, an accord would help bring further openness and unity to the Church.

He told the "Christianity in the Chinese Society: Impact, Interaction and Inculturation" conference the agreement is "far-sighted".

He said at times, sacrifice is necessary in order for Catholics to become "members of one family."

The proposed agreement between China and the Vatican is intended to resolve long-standing tensions over the appointment of bishops.

The tensions have seen the Vatican insisting on the Pope's autonomy and Chinese authorities asserting the right to name bishops to protect against foreign influence.

If an agreement is signed, it would signal an easing of the difficulties between Rome and Beijing.

They severed diplomatic ties in 1951, although there have been intermittent attempts to rebuild relations between the two since the 1980s.

During the conference, Tong stressed that "dialogue is an indispensable feature of our modern world".

In his view, if Christianity and China "take a further step, we will find ourselves getting closer and closer to each other and becoming friends on the path to the truth."

"I've never seen a more serious attempt to enter into a dialogue and to continue the dialogue," said Missionhurst Father Jeroom Heyndrickx.

Heyndrickx is a member of the Vatican Commission on China, which has not met under Pope Francis.

He noted that the Vatican was not considering diplomatic ties, but only the appointment of bishops.

Hendrickx said Pope Francis restarted negotiations with China in 2014, and "it has been clear from the beginning … it was a serious attempt on both sides."

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Crux Now
• Catholic Herald
• Image: South China Morning Post

The protesters are calling for democratic elections in Hong Kong, demanding the right to vote for a leader of their choice in 2017, without restrictions from Beijing.

But some commentators see a broader struggle to protect Hong Kong's culture from China's communist government, as it increases its influence on the city.

Christianity has been a visible element of the demonstrations, with prayer groups and crosses seen, and protesters reading Bibles in the street.

Hong Kong's former bishop, Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, said the fight for democracy is "a question of the whole culture, the whole way of living, in this our city".

Beijing's influence through Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying "brings to Hong Kong the whole culture which is now reigning in China, a culture of falsity, of dishonesty, a lack of spiritual values", Cardinal Zen told the Wall Street Journal.

"We can see that it is coming, so we have to resist."

Some see the gap between Christians and the Chinese government as unbridgeable.

"Christians, by definition, don't trust the communists. The communists suppress Christians wherever they are," said Joseph Cheng, a political-science professor at City University of Hong Kong and a supporter of the protesters.

Hong Kong's major church organisations have taken largely neutral stances toward the Occupy Central movement.

Cardinal John Tong issued a brief statement last week urging the Hong Kong government to exercise "restraint in deployment of force" and telling protesters to be "calm" in voicing their grievances.

A spokesperson for the city's Anglican Church said in July that it wouldn't encourage its parishioners to break the law.

Bui in July, 2013, Hong Kong Catholic diocese issued a statement urging that "the Chief Executive shall be directly elected by universal suffrage in 2017 - on a one person, one vote basis".

Some churches are providing aid to protesters and some of leaders of the demonstration movements are Christians.

Last week, the Hong Kong Federation of Catholic Students criticised the police's excessive use of violence when dispersing "unarmed students".

Mr Leung announced on Saturday that "all necessary actions" would be taken to ensure the protesters were removed by Monday morning and order restored.

On Sunday, blockades of official buildings began to be eased.

Sources

• Wall Street Journal
• The Tablet
• Voice of America
• The Guardian
• New York Times
• Image: Wall Street Journal

Cardinal Zen told an Italian newspaper that this is the message he would give the Pope.

Improving relations between Beijing and the Vatican has resulted in speculation that the Pope could reach out to China, possibly alongside a visit to Korea next month.

But Cardinal Zen claimed the Chinese Communist Party would only show the Pope illegitimate bishops, including three who are excommunicated.

Beijing would prevent the Pope meeting Chinese Catholics loyal to Rome, the cardinal continued.

China has an estimated 12 million Catholics, divided between members of the state-sanctioned Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association and the "'technically" illegal Catholics who recognise Pope Francis's pontificate.

In an interview in March, Pope Francis said: "We are close to China".

"I sent a letter to President Xi Jinping when he was elected, three days after me. And he replied," the Pope reportedly said.

The Vatican and China have not had formal talks since Beijing severed ties 63 years ago over allegations of espionage.

Informal talks were last known to be held in 2010.

Beijing's unsanctioned ordination of bishops in 2010 and the house arrest of Thaddeus Ma Daqin, the outspoken auxiliary bishop of Shanghai, two years later have soured ties.

In his interview, Cardinal Zen said he did not see signs of dialogue happening between the Catholic Church and China.

"Even if under these conditions Beijing was to extend a hand, it would be a trick under these circumstances," he said.

"Our poor bishops are slaves, the Communist Party denies them respect, tries to take away their dignity."

A close Western observer of the Vatican's ties with China said he was convinced Pope Francis was eager to visit China.

For many years, the Vatican has wanted to move its nunciature from Taiwan to the mainland, the Jesuit scholar said, speaking to the South China Morning Post on condition of anonymity.

He cautioned, however, that Beijing might be hesitant to receive the current Pope.

"Given that Francis has also been outspoken on issues of corruption and the treatment of the poor, one could see China being very wary of allowing him a microphone," he said.

Sources

• South China Morning Post
• China Topix
• Image: Conggiao