In the coming days, the Premier of China will be visiting New Zealand and Australia. This is significant, although the role of the Premier—nominally number two in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hierarchy—is not quite as important as some may think. Much of the power is now deeply centralised in President Xi Jinping. Don’t get Read more
The Vatican and China are signalling a potential thaw in their historically strained relationship, with both sides expressing a willingness to work together. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, has proposed the establishment of a permanent Vatican office in Beijing. This is a significant gesture towards deeper diplomatic ties. Parolin reaffirmed that the Read more
Cardinal Joseph Zen trial began on Sept. 19, 2022, in Hong Kong for his role as a trustee of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund. This organisation paid legal fees and medical bills for Hong Kongers protesting the Extradition Law Amendment Bill. This 2019 legislation would have allowed extradition to the People’s Republic of China. Many Read more
Two state-sponsored church bodies in China have elected new leaders who promised to invigorate the Catholic faithful pastorally in line with the socialist principles of the Chinese Communist Party. The three-day 10th National Congress of Catholicism in China ended in Wuhan, the capital of Hebei province in central China, in August. The national conference is Read more
China’s persecution of Catholics has escalated, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This comes even as one Vatican official said the two sides are talking about opening a representative office in Beijing. According to spokesperson Joanne Ou, the Vatican has been requesting China’s permission for a representative office to be established since 1999. Yet, Read more
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) imposed sanctions Friday on David Alton, a leading British Catholic human rights campaigner who highlighted widespread abuses in Xinjiang. The Chinese authorities announced the measures on March 26 against Alton and eight other U.K. citizens, as well as four institutions critical of the country’s human rights record. The individuals are Read more
The Education Ministry of China has published plans to ‘cultivate masculinity’ in schoolboys. The policy has inflamed debate across the country. The plan follows a warning from one of China’s top political advisers that the nation is experiencing a national “masculinity crisis.” “Chinese boys have been spoiled by housewives and female teachers,” the adviser, Si Read more
China will place emphasis on eugenics by encouraging a certain type of women to have more babies in its new five year plan. Eugenics is the study of how to manage reproduction within a human population to increase desirable heritable characteristics. Among the Chinese Communist Party’s goals listed in its policy blueprint for the years Read more
A Chinese bishop has resigned after the Vatican announced plans to renew its pact with China. This is a move which observers say is a setback to China’s hopes of implementing the deal smoothly. The deal was signed secretly in September 2018, and no details have yet been released. Its key provision is believed to Read more
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is “morally culpable” through its negligence and repression, lies and propaganda for allowing coronavirus (COVID-19) to spread. It is having a lethal effect on the world’s poor, a cardinal from Myanmar says. “The Chinese regime led by the all-powerful Xi Jinping and the CCP — not its people — owes Read more