CNA Staff, Mar 22, 2021 / 16:01 pm
A Swedish scholar who studies China has called for the Vatican to speak up about human rights abuses by the Chinese government, noting that "dialogue on equal terms is not what is happening."
"China should be treated like any other country and play by the same rules as others," Fredrik Fällman, Associate Professor of Sinology at the University of Gothenburg, wrote in a March 19 column at East Asia Forum.
"The Catholic Church often comments on the situation in other countries. Yet in China, the Vatican keeps silent on many concerning developments - including structural religious persecution, labour rights issues and human rights abuses against the Uyghurs. It seems Vatican officials are holding China to a different standard compared to other countries."
In 2018, the Vatican reached an agreement with the Chinese government on the appointment of bishops. The terms of the agreement, which was renewed in October 2020 for two more years, have never been publicly revealed.