www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Atrocity in Xi'an

Just my experience in 2 decades of living, working with, and observing the Chinese. The international pressure was frankly incidental. What was much more critical was the enourmous outburst, underreported in standard media, of local anger at this. These nuns enjoyed a very good local reputation, and even non-catholics have been ouraged at what is sadly, an all to frequent phenomenon in modern China, where local political authorities in concert with private developers use paid thugs to intimidate or coerce cooperation in land siezures.
China today is less of the classic "popular" or "populist" Communist environment, where land will be siezed either by the military or by a a mass demonstration of "Workers and Peasants", but rather is more like one of the "Factory Towns" that you might have heard about in the late 19th early 20th century US, where the wealthy and the political office holders are involved in 'crony capitalism" and would hire thugs to get their way, but mostly by dark of night, always with "plausible deniability".
Ultimately it is heartening to see how the people of Xi'an have rallied to the nuns, and shows how persecution can yield unexpected fruits.

You might be right that the "local" anger over the incident was "critical" to the reaction of the government, although belated.

However, I would not dismiss outright that "international pressure" was merely "incidental" because the two, in this instance, could have fed off each other.

The beatings occured on November 23rd. The "local" outburst was publicly manifested when about 600 rallied the following Sunday, November 27th, and protested the beating of the Chinese nuns. Most, if not all, of the protesters were Chinese Catholics. This protest rally was covered by news agencies, probably some international.

On December 1st, all Catholic media and Internet websites were shut down by the government but not before the Vatican issued its formal protest the day before, November 30th, and released worldwide through all available media. (I think the "world" stops and listens when the Holy Press of the Vatican speaks!) The Vatican appeared to have been alerted by the "local" Chinese Catholics about the beatings.

The "public" display of outburst by the "locals" could have been not THAT public unless they have assured themselves of some "international" backing, that the outside world is watching against any further atrocities from the government.

But on December 2nd, Catholics in the city of Xian feared retaliations after news agencies reported that some nuns were attacked and members of a local congregation staged a demonstration on November 27th when the (Xian) Religious Affairs Bureau sent its agents to investigate who leaked the information.

On December 6th, the USCCB lodges its formal protest with China's Ambassador the the U.S.

Yesterday, the Chinese local authorities arrested 11 suspects after conducting an ivestigation, which should have been done 3 weeks prior.

I think the "international pressure" exerted by the Vatican and by the USCCB were not merely incidental, although both are "only" Catholic non-governmental organizations.

They were also "critical."

Amado

yes, "underreported"indeed. If it were some sort of scandal it would be all over the place.

I knew a Maryknoll priest who was a missionary in China. My mother, as a nurse in the early 60's had as a patient, a Passionist bishop who was a missionary in China. He was stripped naked in front of the altar of his cathedral, his hands bound with wire, and forced to march through the streests and the people he ministered to were forced to throw things a him. He later died of various causes in the hospital. We forget things like that.

This is why I'm calling for a boycott of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. The stadia in which these games will be held are the same where they used to torture and murder anyone who didn't tow the Communist line.

As not to duplicate the same discussion on two threads regarding the same topic, in the same forum, I am closing this thread and asking for all to post concerning this topic on the larger thread.

link to Chinese Church violence thread

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+
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