Roman Catholic Church in China marked the 17th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square killings.
Observers said the criticism by Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, was the latest sign that the Vatican may be unwilling to compromise on human rights to establish diplomatic relations with mainland China.
Pope Benedict XVI has pursued the normalization of ties with China for the past year. But those efforts have been on hold since the government-approved church on the mainland installed two bishops a month ago without the Vatican’s approval.
Zen defended the students who died in the suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations in and around Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, whom the Beijing government has labeled counterrevolutionaries seeking to overthrow the state
CLEAN GOVERNMENT
"All they asked for was a clean government – is that a sin?" he said in remarks published by The New York Times newspaper and other media outlets. "And what they wished for was a strong nation – is that a sin? All we’re doing is pursuing their aspirations," he added.
Thousands of protesters took part in a candlelight vigil at Hong Kong’s Victoria Park to mark the 17th anniversary of the military crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
The exact numbers of people killed, wounded or detained in connection with the Tiananmen Square demonstration are unknown, but it is believed at least hundreds of activists died and thousands of others were taken into custody.
WEARING ROBES
Wearing the red and white robes he was given after Pope Benedict XVI made him a cardinal in March, Cardinal Zen walked straight from celebrating Mass at the cathedral in here to a prayer meeting on a cement-floored, indoor basketball court next door and to remember those who died, eyewitnesses said.
‘Underground’ house churches in China have compared their struggle to be recognized with that of the students and other activists 17 years ago. Most of China’s estimated 80-million Christians are believed to attend the ‘house churches’ names this way as they often gather in homes of believers who have no permissions to gather in church buildings.
The Chinese Communist Party now bases its legitimacy to a considerable extent on the material prosperity it has brought to many of China’s 1.3 billion people, analysts say. But Cardinal Zen questioned whether this was enough. He cited coal mine disasters and consumer safety scandals that have embarrassed Beijing repeatedly in recent years.
WIDESPREAD "CORRUPTION"
"Yes, the economy has improved and some people have earned lots of money, but corruption abounds, the gap in wealth is huge, mines keep swallowing workers and fake milk powder and fake medicines are flooding the market – is this considered an improvement?" he asked. "If they had listened to the kind advice of the students and workers, would today’s country be a better country?"
Liu Bainian, the secretary general of the government-approved Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association in Beijing, voiced “surprise” that Cardinal Zen had spoken out on Tiananmen Square. "According to God’s holy teachings, what belongs to Caesar should be left with Caesar, and what belongs to God should be left with God," he told The New York Times.
Chinese police reportedly tightened surveillance of known dissidents and others Beijing considers a threat to peace and stability. Relatives of victims who died at Tiananmen Square told reporters police have questioned them about their plans for the anniversary.
Tiananmen relatives have urged China’s leadership to make gradual moves to bring justice to the victims, the Voice of America (VOA) network and other media reported. They also are asking the government to “end restrictions on those who survived the crackdown," and their families, and allow them “to collect financial assistance from home and abroad." (With BosNewsLife Monitoring, BosNewsLife Research and reports from China).
