VATICAN MEETING ON CHINA POLICY UNLIKELY TO LEAD

C O N F I D E N T I A L HONG KONG 000110 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP AND EAP/CM NSC FOR DENNIS WILDER E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/12/2032 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL HK CH VT SUBJECT: VATICAN MEETING ON CHINA POLICY UNLIKELY TO LEAD TO MAJOR POLICY SHIFT REF: 06 HONG KONG 4288 Classified By: E/P Chief Laurent Charbonnet. Reasons: 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (U) Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen told the press on January 9 that he would travel to Rome shortly to discuss the Vatican's China policy. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone will chair the meeting, scheduled for the latter half of January. According to Zen, the Pope will be briefed about the meeting afterwards. Zen, who turns 75 (a bishop's official retirement age) on January 13, has repeated his desire to retire as bishop of Hong Kong in order to focus on Sino-Vatican affairs. Zen told the media, "I expect he (the Pope) will give me a final answer on the occasion of my birthday and I hope to retire within 2007." ¶2. (C) Monsignor Eugene Nugent, the papal representative in Hong Kong, told us on January 12 that he did not expect a major policy shift to result from the Vatican meeting on China. While the discussions will help "familiarize" many of the recently-installed top Vatican officials with the challenges inherent in the Vatican-PRC relationship, the meeting is unlikely to bring significant changes in the Holy See's strategy towards China, opined Nugent. In addition to Bertone, several other high-level Vatican officials, Zen, Hong Kong Auxiliary Bishop John Tong, and possibly some outside experts will join the meeting. Taiwan Cardinal Paul Shan, whom Nugent had previously mentioned as a participant (reftel),was in poor health and was not expected to travel to Rome. Traditionally, the Vatican does not publicize these meetings or share the nature of its deliberations with the media. It was a bit unusual, acknowledged Nugent, that Zen had informed the media of this meeting. Separately, Nugent said that there was no indication from the Vatican that the Pope was ready to discuss Zen's retirement as bishop of Hong Kong on his birthday. Cunningham