HONG KONG -- A senior Chinese official has acknowledged that Beijing and the Vatican have been in contact about the normalization of diplomatic relations. This was the first formal confirmation of hints from Vatican officials that negotiations for the restoration of ties, broken since 1951, were going on.
Ye Xiaowen, director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, confirmed earlier this month that the two sides had been talking about normalization of relations, although no date had been set for it to take place.
The Vatican is the only government in Europe that still recognizes the government of Taiwan rather than that of the People's Republic of China. Beijing is anxious to remove Taiwan's remaining foothold in Europe. The Vatican, too, is anxious to have normal relations with a country with over a billion souls to be saved.