BEIJING (Reuters) - China, responding to a plea from Pope John Paul for diplomatic relations, said it was ready to improve ties but on condition the Vatican stays out its internal affairs and cuts ties with Taiwan.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi also revealed that diplomatic contacts had been opened between Beijing and the Holy See.
``We are ready to improve relations with the Vatican,'' Sun told a regular news conference.
``We have emphasized that it cannot interfere with China's internal affairs using the pretext of religious issues,'' he said. ``If they can accept this principle in the future, the two of us can be like other states,'' Sun said.
The Communist government severed diplomatic ties with the Vatican in the 1950s, expelled Roman Catholic and other Christian missionaries and forced believers to register with state-approved religious organizations.
Yet according to the Vatican, some eight million Chinese Catholics remain secretly loyal to the Pope and Beijing fears the political influence this gives the Holy See.
China has all along insisted that better ties depend on the Vatican cutting its formal links with Taiwan.
``Our conditions are very clear,'' said Sun. ``Contact through diplomatic channels has been going on.''
Analysts said a swift breakthrough in normalizing relations was unlikely, with conservatives in the Chinese Communist Party and the Vatican still a formidable force against rapprochement.
The Holy See harbors bitter memories of the imprisonment of Catholic priests in China and has accused Beijing of persecuting millions of ordinary worshippers loyal to the Pope.
And it will be hard to broker a deal in a one-party state which fears any challenge to its authority.
OLIVE BRANCH
The Pope offered an olive branch to China on Wednesday, apologizing for errors of the colonial past and pleading for the establishment of diplomatic ties.
The state-approved Catholic Patriotic Association said it had been told by authorities not to talk to reporters. ``It's a sensitive time. We have to behave ourselves,'' said one official in Nanjing.
However, a priest at a Catholic church in Shanghai said he was hopeful the Pope's appeal would draw a positive response from China that would set the two on track for diplomatic relations.
``Now that China is slowly opening up, there is a higher chance of the government recognizing the Pope and we certainly look forward to that,'' said the priest, who asked not to be identified.
The Papal plea came just days after President Bush (news - web sites) visited China for a Pacific Rim summit in Shanghai during which he raised the topic of religious freedom with Chinese counterpart Jiang Zemin, according to Western diplomats.
It was the first call by the Vatican to resume negotiations on normalizing diplomatic relations since ties between China and the Holy See hit an all-time low last year.
Tension had been simmering since the state-approved church ordained five new bishops and the Vatican canonized 120 Catholic martyrs on October 1, China's National Day.
The 81-year-old ailing Pope has expressed a strong desire to visit China before he dies to try to expand the reach of the Catholic church among China's 1.3 billion people.
For China, detente would be a political coup as the Vatican is one of only 28 states to maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province.
Taiwan responded to the Papal call by telling the Vatican China had no respect for religious freedom and Taipei was confident of its ties with the Holy See.
LONG WAIT EXPECTED
Chinese academics said there was hope diplomatic relations between Beijing and the Vatican could be established -- but that it could take a long time.
``Normalization of relations would bring benefits for both sides and more and more people will recognize this,'' said He Guanghu, deputy director of the center for Christianity at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
``If China wants to achieve stability and solve problems between the official and underground church, then there is only one way and that it is to normalize relations,'' he said.
``In the long term we have good hopes. But in the short term, I don't think so.''
The biggest obstacle was the conservatism of some policy makers in the Communist Party, he said.
Some academics said no real breakthrough could be expected before a scheduled change in China's leadership next year given fears that religious groups could fuel social instability and challenge one-party rule.
``Now could be the time to resume talks, but I am afraid that China is not ready to make any concessions,'' said Beatrice Leung, associate professor at Lingnan University in Hong Kong.
``China is focused on changing the party leadership. Only after the new leaders come into power can the question of the Vatican ties be dealt with more peacefully,'' she said.
The Pope also faces pressure from Taiwan cardinals and conservative elements within the Vatican who would see a switch of allegiance as a betrayal of Taiwan and the underground church, a Western diplomat said.