Washington, USA - A senior Chinese official is trying to calm U.S. misgivings ahead of Beijing's coming Olympic Games about what the Bush administration sees as religious intolerance.
In Washington, the director of China's religious affairs bureau met with U.S. officials and spoke at Georgetown University.
Ye Xiaowen told reporters Wednesday, after talks with Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky, that China's peaceful development depends upon its respect for human rights and religious beliefs. Ye said he also met with President Bush's ambassador for international religious freedom, John Hanford, and with Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the retired archbishop of Washington.
China has been a target of international criticism that its communist-led government abuses and stymies the voices of its people and ignores violence in Sudan's Darfur region. Some have demanded sanctions involving the August Olympics, but the Chinese government has said repeatedly the games should be kept separate from politics.
Ye criticized as groundless last year's State Department report on religious freedom that said China continued to repress religious groups and was cracking down ahead of the Olympics.
China's leaders allow worship only in government-monitored churches, temples and mosques. Members of unofficial congregations frequently are jailed and harassed.
Ye also said that China's Olympic preparations meant it had "no time" for anger over Congress' presentation last year of a prestigious award to the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists who Beijing says is pushing for independence for Tibet.
China, Ye said, is ready to improve ties with the Vatican, provided Catholic officials recognize that self-governing Taiwan is part of Chinese territory. He provided no timeline for reconciliation.
China has clashed with the Vatican over the right to appoint bishops independently without papal approval and the Holy See's diplomatic ties with Taiwan. China considers the island across the Taiwan Strait a province in rebellion.
Ye said he came to America to speak at Georgetown, which was founded by a Jesuit in the 18th century. His bureau is responsible for supervising activities by China's five officially recognized religious groups: Buddhists, Muslims, Taoists, Catholics and Protestants.