HONG KONG - Hong Kong's outspoken Roman Catholic leader said Monday he was prepared to step down if it helps achieve genuine religious freedom in China, or better relations between the Vatican and Beijing.
"Sacrificing me is really nothing if the mainland has real religious freedom," Bishop Joseph Zen told The Associated Press by telephone.
He said he was ready to be transferred elsewhere if his absence could improve relations between the two sides.
Zen has long been a critic of Beijing's policies, and has recently slammed the Hong Kong government's planned anti-subversion law.
China does not recognize the Vatican, and allows its Catholics to worship only at state-sanctioned churches. However, scholars estimate that half the mainland's 12 million Catholics attend unofficial underground churches that are loyal to the Pope.
Banned from visiting the mainland since 1998, Zen has criticized Beijing officials for asking Hong Kong Catholics to keep a low profile over the Vatican's canonization of Chinese martyrs, which was opposed by Beijing.
Zen also accused mainland Chinese authorities of closing down many churches and banning priests from teaching in recent years — and said there has been no improvement in the relationship between the Vatican and mainland Chinese authorities.
"So far, I haven't seen any healthy dialogue between them," he said.
Hong Kong returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997. It enjoys Western-style freedoms denied on the mainland.
But it is constitutionally required to pass legislation prohibiting acts against the central Chinese government such as subversion, treason, sedition and the theft of state secrets.
The planned new legislation also calls on Hong Kong to ban groups linked to organizations on the mainland that are considered threats to Chinese national security.
Government officials insist Hong Kong's freedoms will be safeguarded — but critics of the proposed law are worried.
Zen has expressed concern that suppression of the underground church in mainland China could extend to Catholics in Hong Kong.
"We admit that we are just the same church as underground Catholic churches on the mainland," he said at a public forum on Oct. 26.