US embassy cable - 05VATICAN512

C O N F I D E N T I A L  VATICAN 000512 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/WE (CUNNINGHAM); DRL/IRF (INBODEN) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  8/16/2015 
TAGS: KIRF, PHUM, PINR, PREL, VT, CH 
SUBJECT: OPTIMISM ON CHINA FROM DEPUTY FM PAROLIN (C-ALS-00716) 
 
REF: A) STATE 145435 B) VATICAN 484 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Peter Martin, Political Officer, POL, STATE. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
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Summary 
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1.  (C)  Vatican Deputy Foreign Minister Parolin told the Charge 
August 9 that there were signs that Beijing might eventually be 
open to some official Vatican presence in China as a first step 
towards diplomatic relations.  According to Parolin, an initial 
Holy See representative would have some official status, but 
would obviously not be a full-fledged apostolic nuncio.  The 
important thing, he said, would be for the representative to 
enjoy full freedom of movement and the ability to speak to 
"whomever he wants."  Parolin would not hazard a guess as to a 
time frame for any such arrangement; we understand he was 
referring to continuing unofficial talks that are only the 
precursor to more serious negotiations between the two sides. 
Parolin acknowledged Taiwanese fears of being "abandoned" by the 
Holy See in the event of an upgrade of relations with Beijing, 
but said the Vatican would find a way to maintain "some 
presence" in Taiwan.  Though Parolin's comments do not augur an 
imminent breakthrough on China, they were more optimistic and 
detailed than what we typically hear from the Secretariat of 
State on the matter.  End Summary. 
 
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Signs of Openness 
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2.  (C)  Holy See Deputy Foreign Minister Pietro Parolin told 
the Charge August 9 that there were signs that Beijing might 
eventually be open to some Vatican presence in China as a first 
step towards diplomatic relations.  Parolin said that informal 
unofficial dialogue with China was continuing, and he had the 
impression that eventually the two sides could come to an 
agreement on a Holy See representative resident in China. 
 
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Our Man in China 
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3.  (C)  According to Parolin, an initial Holy See 
representative would have some official status, but would 
obviously not be a full-fledged apostolic nuncio.  Parolin said 
the Vatican would be careful about proposing a title for the 
representative, since even this variable could raise hackles. 
"The title is not important to us," Parolin emphasized.  "We 
would just have to be sure that any Vatican representative would 
enjoy freedom of movement, and could speak to whomever he 
wants."  This includes members of the underground church.  "If 
the Chinese won't agree to those terms we won't do it," he 
concluded. 
 
4. (C)  When asked about a time frame for any real movement on 
these issues, Parolin said it was hard to say.  "Some said 
[China] would [move to normalize relations] before the [Beijing 
2008] Olympics," he recalled, "but who knows?"  "This process is 
unpredictable," he added.  Still, Parolin thinks that when the 
two sides are finally able to come to an agreement, things will 
move fast.  He said that once they could agree upon a formula 
for the papal representative, in addition to overcoming 
longstanding differences over appointment of bishops, other 
details would fall into place relatively quickly, and full 
relations would follow. 
 
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Taiwan 
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5.  (C)  Turning to another side of the equation, Parolin 
admitted that Taiwan feared being "abandoned" by the Vatican 
when the Holy See eventually formalizes relations with Beijing. 
Though he acknowledged the obvious necessity of downgrading 
relations with Taipei at the time of an upgrade with Beijing, 
Parolin insisted that the Vatican would not simply drop Taiwan. 
He said the Holy See would "continue to inform Taiwan" 
throughout the process, and that the Vatican would look for a 
way to maintain "some presence" in Taiwan, even though a 
representative would not be able to maintain ambassadorial 
status. 
 
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Comment 
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6.   (C)  Parolin's comments were more optimistic and detailed 
 
than most commentary we have heard from the Holy See's 
Secretariat of State on this subject.  There has certainly been 
 
SIPDIS 
some movement on this front, even if it has been confined to 
unofficial talks between Vatican-affiliated groups and 
semi-official Chinese representatives.  However, as Parolin 
implied when speaking of timing, concrete progress could still 
be a long way off. 
 
SANDROLINI 
 
 
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 2005VATICA00512 - Classification: CONFIDENTIAL