TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan is monitoring developments as its sole diplomatic ally in Europe, the Vatican, seeks to establish a permanent presence in China.

Cardinal Secretary of State of Vatican City Pietro Parolin on Tuesday (May 21) said the Holy See is seeking to establish a “stable presence in China,” reported Vatican News. If this occurs, it would represent a significant upgrade in the Vatican's relations with Beijing and could threaten ties with Taiwan.

The Vatican statement lauded the “strengthening of reciprocal relations” since the two governments signed a provisional agreement on appointing bishops in 2018. Indicating that Taiwan's diplomatic ally is looking to upgrade relations with China, Parolin said, “We are all interested in renewing and also developing some points” of the agreement. 

In addition, Parolin pointed toward a progression towards a permanent representative office in China as he expressed his hope of having “a stable presence in China.” He said the Vatican's goal is to “increase and deepen” contacts with Beijing “even if initially it might not take the form of a pontifical representation or an apostolic nunciature.”

The establishment of a pontifical representation and an apostolic nunciature, would be the equivalent of an ambassador and an embassy, respectively. This would be problematic for Taiwan as China's requirement for countries to set up embassies in Beijing is to sever all diplomatic ties with Taipei permanently. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) told Taiwan News that it is monitoring exchanges between Beijing and the Holy See. The ministry accused China of “clamping down on religious freedom and repeatedly violating” the 2018 Holy See–China agreement. 

The ministry said the Vatican sent its top Philippines diplomatic representative Archbishop Charles John Brown to attend the May 20 inauguration of President Lai Ching-te (賴清德). On Tuesday, Brown met with Lai and expressed his concern over the April 3 Hualien earthquake. 

“We understand that the Holy See hopes to promote religious freedom and rights for Chinese Catholics, and has publicly expressed its desire to send representatives to China on many occasions,” said MOFA. It then called on all countries to jointly urge China to “stop infringing on religious freedom and basic human rights.”

MOFA said that it continues to work with the Vatican and Catholic Church in areas such as “humanitarian assistance, jointly defend the core values of religious freedom, and hopes to make concrete contributions to promoting religious freedom in the world.”