China blocks travel by some for South Korea papal visit:
organiser
North Korea test fired three short-range rockets into the
sea as the pope arrived in South Korea
Pope Francis is escorted by South Korean President Park
Geun-hye upon his arrival at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, South Korea, on August
14, 2014. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon. Pool)
Seoul, Reuters—Pope Francis sent an unprecedented message of
good will to China on Thursday before touching down in Seoul, but the first
papal trip to Asia in 15 years got off to a shaky start with the news some
Chinese had been barred from joining a youth celebration.
About half of more than 100 Chinese who had planned to
attend an Asian Youth Day event during the pope’s visit are unable to attend
due to “a complicated situation inside China,” Heo Young-yeop, spokesman for
the Committee for the Papal Visit
to Korea, told reporters.
He declined to give further details, citing their safety.
Another organizer, who declined to be identified, said some of the would-be
attendees had been arrested by Chinese authorities.
Beijing rejects Vatican authority over its Catholics.
Beijing rejects Vatican authority over its Catholics.
China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to
requests for comments either on the Pope’s good will message or the Chinese who
were barred from attending the youth event.
As the pope’s plane approached South Korean airspace off the
west of the peninsula, North Korea test fired three short-range rockets into
the sea off its east coast, according to South Korea’s defense ministry.
The test site was hundreds of kilometers away from the
pope’s plane. North
Korea fired two more projectiles
from the same location early on Thursday afternoon.
The North has tested an unprecedented number of rockets and
missiles this year and has in recent weeks said the launches were in
retaliation to US-South Korean military exercises scheduled to start on Monday.
Pyongyang often stages such tests when rival South Korea is
in the global spotlight, in what is seen as a means to grab a share of the
attention.
The Argentine pope will spend five days in South Korea,
meeting some of the country’s five million Catholics on the first trip by a pontiff
to Asia since 1999, but much of the attention will be on the Vatican’s
relations with China.
“Upon entering Chinese air space, I extend best wishes to
your Excellency and your fellow citizens and I invoke the divine blessing of
peace and well-being upon the nation,” he said in a radio message to President
Xi Jinping.
It was the first time a pope had been allowed to fly over
China on Asian tours. His predecessor John Paul II had to avoid Chinese
airspace because of the fraught relations between Beijing and the Vatican.
The Vatican has had no formal relations with China since shortly after the Communist Party took
power in 1949. The Catholic Church in
China is divided into two communities: an “official” Church known as the
“Patriotic Association” answerable to the Party, and an underground Church that
swears allegiance only to the pope in Rome.
Ren Dahai, director of Jinde Charities, a Catholic charity
in China, said he had heard that some Chinese Catholics had been restricted
from traveling to South Korea and some had been allowed to go, and that the
matter had been a hot topic of discussion among Chinese Catholics in the last
two days.
Some of the travelers had been stopped at airports and
prevented from passing through customs, Ren said he had heard.
“This seems to me like it’s dependent on the local
government and the ideas and practices of local officials,” Ren told Reuters by
telephone from northern Hebei province, a Catholic stronghold.
“Some places will be stricter, while some will be looser.”
Anthony Lam, a senior researcher at the Holy Spirit Study
Centre in Hong
Kong, an organ of the Diocese of Hong Kong, said Chinese authorities
had warned more than 100 Chinese Catholics not to go to Seoul but said he was
not aware of any arrests.
“Local officials will tell them: ‘You should cooperate with
us and not go to Seoul this time. Otherwise, you would know the costs’,” Lam
said in a phone interview. He said he had the information from “different
channels” but declined to specify further.
“At least 10 days ago, or two weeks, the government started
lobbying them not to go and later on gave them warnings.”
North Korea had turned down an invitation from the South
Korean Catholic church for members of its state-run Korean Catholic Association
to attend a papal mass on Monday in Seoul, citing the start of the joint
US-South Korean military drills.
Francis called for efforts towards reconciliation and
stability on the Korean peninsula, divided since the 1950-53 Korean war, which
left millions of families separated.
“Korea’s quest for peace is a cause close to our hearts, for
it affects the stability of the entire area and indeed of our whole war-weary
world,” he said in remarks during an appearance with South Korean President
Park Geun-hye at the presidential Blue House.
Missionaries and aid groups have described a crackdown by
Chinese authorities on Christian charity groups near its border with North
Korea in recent months. The sweep along the frontier is believed to be aimed at
closing off support to North Koreans who flee persecution and poverty in their
homeland and illegally enter China before going on to other nations, usually
ending up in South Korea. China is North Korea’s main ally.
Catholic Church
Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) is the pope emeritus for the Roman Catholic Church.
Note:
Was Pope Benedict
XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) A Nazi? Why Join the Hitler Youth?
By Austin Cline
Pope Francis I
is the pope for the Roman Catholic
Church.
papal knighthood is an honor conferred by
pope for the Roman Catholic Church.
John J. Studzinski is a papal knighthood knight, a director at the Human Rights Watch, and a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Human Rights Watch, and the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank).
George Soros is the founder &
chairman for the Open Society
Foundations, was a benefactor at the Human
Rights Watch, and the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open
Society.
Foundation to Promote Open
Society was
a funder for the Human Rights Watch,
the Aspen Institute (think tank),
and the Committee for Economic Development.
James S. Crown is a trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank), the
president of the Henry Crown and Company, a director at the General
Dynamics Corporation, and a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago.
Lester Crown was a lifetime trustee at
the Aspen Institute (think tank), a director at the General Dynamics Corporation, is the
chairman for Henry Crown and Company,
and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Henry Crown and Company is an investor in the Chicago Bulls, and the General
Dynamics Corporation.
Dennis Rodman was a player for the Chicago Bulls, and met with Kim Jong Un in 2013.
Kim Jong Un met with Dennis Rodman in 2013, and is the president of North
Korea.
James L. Jones Jr. was a director at the General Dynamics Corporation, the national
security adviser for the Barack Obama
administration, and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
George A. Joulwan was a director at the General Dynamics Corporation, and is a
director at the Atlantic Council of the
United States (think tank).
Jon M. Huntsman Jr. is the chairman for the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank), and was the ambassador to China for the Barack Obama
administration.
Stuart E. Eizenstat is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank), and was a trustee at the Committee
for Economic Development.
Stephen W. Bosworth is a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and
was a U.S. ambassador for South Korea.
Donna S. Morea was a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and
the EVP for the CGI Group Inc.
CGI Group Inc. was the Obamacare contractor that developed Healthcare.gov web site.
Obamacare is Barack Obama’s signature policy.
Barack Obama’s signature policy is Obamacare, and was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Sidley Austin LLP is the lobby firm for the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.
R. Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and the president of
the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Newton N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Francis E. George is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a cardinal
for the Roman Catholic Church.
Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger) is the pope emeritus for the Roman Catholic Church.
No comments:
Post a Comment