China-Vatican deal on bishops awaiting signatures

ROME: A framework accord between the Vatican and China on the appointment of bishops is ready and could be signed in a few months in what would be a historic breakthrough in relations.

An even partial resolution of the thorny issue of who gets to appoint bishops could open the way for a resumption of diplomatic relations nearly 70 years after they were cut during the Communist takeover of China.

Full relations would give the Church a legal framework to look after all China’s estimated 12 million Catholics and focus on Catholic growth in a country where Protestant churches are growing fast.

Catholics in China are split between those in “underground” communities that recognise the pope and those belonging to a state-controlled Catholic Patriotic Association where the government appoints bishops in collabor- ation with Church communities. Under the new deal, the Vatican will have a say in negotiations for the appointment of future bishops, a senior Vatican source said.

“It is not a great agreement but we don’t know what the situation will be like in 10 or 20 years. It could even be worse,” the source said on Thursday.

“Afterwards we will still be like a bird in a cage but the cage will be bigger,” he said. “It is not easy. Suffering will con- tinue. We will have to fight for every centimetre to increase the size of the cage.”

The source rejected accusations by a senior cardinal that the Vatican was prepared to “sell out” the Church in China and media suggestions that Pope Francis was out of the loop on the negotiations.

He said the pope had followed the China dossier closely and had backed an offer made to two Chinese bishops loyal to the Vatican in which they would take on other positions in their dioceses in order to facilitate an accord with government-backed bishops.

Five out of seven complex situations regarding “illegitimate bishops”, those with government backing, had been resolved. They have asked for a pardon from Pope Francis and to be made legitimate in the eyes of the Church.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said yesterday that China had always been sincere in its efforts to improve ChinaVatican relations.

In December, with papal backing, a Vatican delegation went to China to make an offer relating to two Vatican- recognised bishops.

There are what the source called “gentleman’s agreements” on seven government- backed bishops who would be made legitimate after seeking a papal pardon. – Reuters/African News Agency (ANA)

‘I will run again’

MALE, Maldives: The exiled former president of the Maldives says he will run for office again, just hours after a surprise Supreme Court decision to free a group of political prisoners led to unrest in the capital.

President Yameen Abdul Gayoom had been set to run for re-election virtually unopposed, with all his opponents either jailed or exiled. But ex-president Mohammed Nasheed, who was among those freed, said he would challenge Yameen, who has rolled back many democratic reforms since coming to power five years ago.

“I will hopefully win again,” Nasheed said. – AP/African News Agency (ANA)

Migrants drown

GENEVA: About 90 people are feared drowned after a smugglers’ boat carrying mostly Pakistani migrants capsized off Libya’s coast, the UN’s migration agency said.

Ten bodies have washed ashore near the Libyan town of Zuwara following the tragedy, said International Organisation for Migration spokeswoman Olivia Headon. Eight were believed to be Pakistani, and two Libyans.

“Two survivors swam to shore and one person was rescued by a fishing boat,” Headon said. – AP/African News Agency (ANA)

IS hideout found

KABUL: Afghan security forces have uncovered an Islamic State (IS) hideout in a poor neighbourhood of the capital, Kabul.

An intelligence official says the IS house, hidden behind 3m-high green metal doors in the Qala-e-Wahid neighbourhood was packed with explosives, weapons and suicide vests when security forces found it.

The official,who spoke on condition of anonymity, said security forces were led to the house by an insurgent. – AP/ African news Agency (ANA)

Executives held

SINGAPORE: Key former executives from governmentlinked shipping conglomerate Keppel Offshore and Marine (Kom) were arrested yesterday as part of a corruption probe that saw the firm hit with a multi-million dollar fine.

Tay Kim Hock, former president and chief executive of Keppel Fels Brasil, was reportedly arrested with five other executives. Last year, the probe found corrupt payments of $55 million (R662m) made to Petrobras, a Brazilian state-run oil company, by Kom’s agent in Brazil. – dpa/ANA

Quake satellite

BEIJING: China yesterday launched its first seismoelectromagnetic satellite to study seismic precursors, which might help establish a ground-space earthquake monitoring and forecasting network in the future.

A Long March-2D rocket, launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in north-west China’s

Gobi Desert, carried the

730kg satellite into a sunsynchronous orbit. – Xinhua/ African News Agency (ANA)

Trump slams FBI

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump, dogged by an unrelenting investigation into his campaign’s ties to Russia, has lashed out at the FBI and Justice Department, calling them politically biased.

Trump tweeted early yesterday morning that he would release a classified memo that revealed abusive FBI surveillance tactics. – AP/African News Agency (ANA)

Turks to detain 13

TURKISH authorities have ordered the detention of 13 people for supporting the national medical association online, the newspaper Hurriyet reported, after the organisation publicly opposed a military campaign in Syria. – Reuters/ African News Agency (ANA)