Most Rev. John Tong, Bishop of Hong Kong Bishop John Tong of the Diocese of Hong Kong hopes for better relations with the Mainland China. When members of the Vatican's high-level commission on China affairs meet in the last week of October, their attention will focus once again on how reconciliation with Beijing can proceed after a season of stagnation.
Bishop Tong was among the 200-strong delegation of Hong Kong business, political and social leaders the central government invited to see the celebratory events in Tiananmen Square on October 1 - a repeat of what was considered in political circles to be the honour he received last year as a guest at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing.
Anthony Lam Sui-ki, a religious affairs analyst with the Holy Spirit Study Centre, Hong Kong, said the fact that Beijing had found Bishop Tong more acceptable ... did not mean the local diocese had gone soft on religious-freedom issues. "Before Bishop Tong went to Beijing for the National Day celebrations, he called for the release of underground clerics currently imprisoned by the mainland authorities. It is just that Beijing chose not to interpret it as a challenge," Lam said. Courtesy: South China Morning Post, 27 October 2009
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