SUNDAY, MARCH 23, 2014 INTERNATIONAL

Thousands mourn ’s ‘underground’ Bishop

SHANGHAI: Thousands of mourn- Fan Zhongliang, whose faith led who was imprisoned for much of after several days of high fever, gy in red-and-white robes. A large the most prominent converts ers packed a Shanghai square yes- him to endure decades of suffer- the last two decades and spent his according to the US-based photo of Fan adorned the hall, secured by 16th-century Italian mis- terday to bid farewell to “under- ing at the hands of China’s ruling final years under house arrest, Cardinal Kung Foundation, a surrounded by flowers. Chinese sionary Matteo Ricci. The long-serv- ground” Catholic Bishop Joseph Communist Party, they said. Fan, died last Sunday at the age of 97 Roman Catholic organization. authorities had turned down a ing bishop of Shanghai’s state-run China has a state-controlled request from worshippers to hold , Aloysius Jin Luxian, Catholic Church, which rejects the Fan’s funeral service at Shanghai’s died last year at age 96. Father Vatican’s authority, as well as an main Catholic cathedral, the Giuseppe Zhu Yude, a priest from “underground” church. Experts esti- Cardinal Kung Foundation said. the underground church, led the mate that there are as many as 12 mass for Fan’s funeral yesterday. million Catholics in China, split ‘Forbidden’ from duty Overseas and underground Chinese roughly evenly between the two Fan was ordained a priest in Catholics had requested that Jin’s churches. “I came here to bid 1951 and spent more than two successor, , be farewell to our bishop,” said a decades in jail and labor camps. His allowed to preside. woman in her 60s who gave her appointment as bishop of Shanghai But that request was apparently name only as Clare and who was in 2000 was rejected by China’s rebuffed. According to the Vatican- among a throng of mourners gath- state-run church. “Bishop Fan was linked AsiaNews website, Ma-who ered outside the funeral home forbidden to carry out his pastoral was stripped of his title after he dra- where Fan’s body was laid out. “He duty as the government put him matically split with China’s state-run had kept loyal to the Lord through- under house arrest almost immedi- church at his installation ceremony out his life and endured great suf- ately-a sentence that he served until last July and has since been under fering. I have great respect for him,” the day he died,” Joseph Kung, pres- house arrest-remained under close she said of Fan, who was appointed ident of the foundation, wrote in a watch by authorities. Members of bishop of Shanghai in 2000 by Pope statement. China’s Communist both the state-controlled and John Paul II. regime broke ties with the Vatican underground churches were in In the square outside the in 1951, and although relations attendance at Fan’s funeral, and funeral home, a large screen dis- have improved in recent years as some expressed concern about the played photos of Fan while the country’s Catholic population uncertainty the church in Shanghai mourners sang, prayed and lis- has grown, they remain at odds now faces. “Bishop Fan had held tened to a man narrating the over which side has the authority to onto his faith during the darkest bishop’s life story. As the service ordain priests. times,” said a middle-aged woman SHANGHAI: Clergy and mourners offers prayers at the funeral of the late head of the got underway, it relayed scenes Shanghai is considered an named Grace. “I believe as long as underground Catholic Church in Shanghai, Bishop Joseph Fan Zhongliang, as he lies in a from inside the funeral home: important diocese given the city’s we follow his example, the Lord will Fan’s body was laid out in the cen- historical ties to the Catholic Church- bless the Shanghai diocese and we funeral home in Shanghai yesterday. —AFP tre, flanked by mourners and cler- it was home to Xu Guangqi, one of will have new leadership.” —AFP China’s satellite spots possible plane debris More international planes, ships head to remote search zone

KUALA LUMPUR: Chinese satellites have spot- Ocean far off Australia’s western coast after satel- Thailand, going over areas in the northern corri- ted a new object in the southern Indian Ocean lite images captured floating objects that inves- dor that have already been exhaustively swept that could be wreckage from a missing tigators believed could be parts of an aircraft. Six to find some clue to unlock one of the biggest Malaysian airliner carrying 239 people, and ships aircraft and two merchant ships have been mysteries in modern aviation. The Pentagon said are on their way to investigate, China and scouring the area, but there were no reports of it was considering a request from Malaysia for Malaysia said yesterday. The object, around 22 any wreckage being found. Australia, which sonar equipment. The P-8 and P-3 spy planes, meters long and 13 meters wide, was spotted announced the first satellite image and is coordi- which the United States is already deploying in early on March 18 around 120 km from a loca- nating the rescue, has cautioned the objects the search, also carry “sonobuoys” that are tion where possible debris was sighted by might be a lost shipping container or other dropped into the sea and use sonar signals to another satellite on March 16 in the remote debris and may have since sunk. “Even though search the waters below. ocean off western Australia, China’s State this is not a definite lead, it is probably more sol- Investigators suspect the Boeing 777 was Administration of Science, Technology and id than any other lead around the world and deliberately diverted thousands of miles from its Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) said on that is why so much effort and interest is being scheduled path. They say they are focusing on BEIJING: US first lady Michelle Obama (second from left) applauds as she its website. The Chinese sighting was first put into this search,” Deputy Prime Minister hijacking or sabotage but have not ruled out and her daughters Malia (third from left), Sasha (fourth from left) and her revealed by Malaysia’s Defense Minister and act- Warren Truss told reporters, before latest technical problems. The search itself has strained mother Marian Robinson (second from right) watch a Peking opera perform- ing Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, Chinese report. ties between China and Malaysia, with Beijing ance with a group of American schoolchildren who are visiting China during who was handed a note with details during a According to several people familiar with the repeatedly leaning on the Southeast Asian their spring break. —AP news conference in Kuala Lumpur. matter, India has told Malaysian investigators nation to step up its hunt and do a better job at “Chinese ships have been dispatched to the that it had found no evidence the plane flew looking after the relatives of the Chinese passen- In China, Michelle Obama touts area,” Hishammuddin said. China said an image through its airspace, making the satellite debris gers. of the object had been captured by its high-defi- lead more solid. It was the first formal notifica- For families of the passengers, the process freedom of speech and religion nition earth observation satellite “Gaofen-1”. The tion that India had come up empty-handed after has proved to be an emotionally wrenching bat- location was south by west of the possible checking its radar records, the sources said. tle to elicit information. In a statement yesterday, BEIJING: US First Lady Michelle Obama Buddhists and Muslim Uighurs particularly debris announced by Australia on Thursday, China, Japan and India were sending more relatives in Beijing lambasted a Malaysian dele- yesterday emphasized the importance of fraught. As Obama delivered her remarks in SASTIND said. The latest possible lead in the planes and Australian and Chinese navy vessels gation for “concealing the truth” and “making universal rights, telling a crowd of students Beijing, thousands of mourners in Shanghai hunt for the jetliner comes two weeks after it were also steaming towards the southern zone, fools” out of the families after they said they left in Beijing that freedom of expression and gathered yesterday morning to bid farewell disappeared from civilian radar screens less than more than 2,000 km southwest of Perth. a meeting without answering all their questions. religion should not be determined by one’s to Catholic Bishop Joseph Fan Zhongliang, an hour after taking-off from the Malaysian capi- Weather conditions were good, with 10 km of “This kind of conduct neglects the lives of all the country of birth. Obama, who is on a week- who died last Sunday at age 97. China has a tal on a scheduled flight to Beijing. Searches by visibility, according to officials - a crucial boost passengers, shows contempt for all their fami- long trip to China with her daughters and state-controlled Catholic church, which more than two dozen countries have so far for a search that is relying more on human eyes lies, and even more, tramples on the dignity of mother, has sought to focus on “soft” issues rejects the Vatican’s authority, as well as an turned up little but frustration and fresh ques- than the technical wizardry of the most Chinese people and the Chinese government,” since her arrival in Beijing Thursday night, “underground” church, of which Fan was a tions about Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. advanced aircraft in the world. they said. Some experts have argued that the playing table tennis with students and part. The bishop’s loyalty to the Vatican reluctance to share sensitive radar data and touring the Forbidden City with her earned him decades of imprisonment, and Remote seas Not going to give up capabilities in a region fraught with suspicion Chinese counterpart, Peng Liyuan. But she Fan remained under house arrest until his The international search for the plane has in Aircraft and ships have also renewed the amid China’s military rise and territorial disputes briefly trod political ground in her speech death. The Communist Party maintains that recent days focused on the southern Indian search in the Andaman Sea between India and may have hampered the search. —Reuters at Peking University’s Stanford Centre, call- Chinese citizens enjoy broad freedoms of ing for greater freedoms while refraining speech and religious expression. from calling out China by name. “As my husband has said, we respect the ‘100,000 Strong’ initiative uniqueness of other cultures and societies,” While Obama touched on the issue of Obama told a crowd of about 200 students, rights, she devoted the bulk of her speech most of whom were from the US. “But to encouraging American students to study when it comes to expressing yourself freely, abroad in China. She touted the “100,000 and worshipping as you choose, and hav- Strong” initiative announced by President ing open access to information-we believe Obama during his 2009 visit to Beijing. The those are universal rights that are the program aims to increase the number as birthright of every person on this planet,” well as the socioeconomic diversity of she said. “We believe that all people Americans studying in China. Currently, deserve the opportunity to fulfil their high- more than 200,000 Chinese students are est potential as I was able to do in the studying in the United States, while only United States.” Obama’s words echoed 20,000 Americans are studying in China, remarks made last December by US Vice according to the White House. Pointing to President Joe Biden, who told a group of her own family’s working-class back- American business leaders in Beijing that ground, she told the crowd that “it never China “will be stronger and more stable occurred to me to study abroad-never.” and more innovative if it respects universal “And I know for a lot of young people human rights”. like me who are struggling to afford a reg- ular semester of school, paying for plane Online crackdown tickets or living expenses halfway around China’s ruling Communist Party authori- the world just isn’t possible,” she said. ties are quick to crack down on political dis- “And that’s not acceptable, because study sent, with a “Great Firewall of China” block- abroad shouldn’t just be for students from ing access to Internet sites deemed sensi- certain backgrounds,” she added. After tive and a vast censorship machine that her speech, Obama held a virtual round- swiftly deletes content considered objec- table with a group of American students tionable. Earlier this month, Chinese and then took a tour with her family of Internet giant Tencent shut down several the Summer Palace, the picturesque for- accounts on its popular instant messaging mer imperial getaway not far from Peking platform WeChat in what appeared to be University. There, the Obamas once again part of a broader crackdown on political took up the “soft” focus of their trip, meet- content. ing with a group of visiting American Campaigners have also criticized China’s middle schoolers and taking in a tradi- treatment of religious groups, with deten- tional Chinese dance performance under PERTH: Two Chinese Air Force Ilyushin IL-76 planes sit on the tarmac at Pearce Air Force base in Bullsbrook, 35 kms north of Perth, tions of members of “underground” church- the uncharacteristically sunny Beijing after arriving to help in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in the Indian Ocean yesterday. —AFP es common and tensions with Tibetan skies. —AFP Relatives of missing Airliner’s passengers struggle to cope

BEIJING: Like other relatives of passengers of Malaysia Airlines about a decade ago. China’s government responded with almost Following a brief meeting Saturday with Malaysia Airlines and worked for the last four years at a company that designs equip- Flight 370, Wang Zheng’s frustration and anger over a lack of any unprecedented forcefulness, deploying nearly a dozen ships and Malaysian government officials, impatience turned to anger as ment for heart patients. certain information about the fate of his loved ones continues to several aircraft to the search effort and assigning government relatives erupted in shouts of “We want to know what the reality Like many of the relatives, Nan said that her helpless feelings grow two weeks after the plane went missing. “Biggest of all is the officials to meet with relatives and liaison with Malaysian officials. is,” and “Give us back our loved ones.” “The family members are were worsened by being almost entirely dependent on the media emotional turmoil I’ve been going through. I can’t eat, I can’t Relatives such as Wang have put their personal and profes- extremely indignant,” read a statement issued by relatives follow- for news, and that she was deeply unhappy with what she called sleep. I’ve been dreaming of my parents every day,” said the 30- sional lives on hold waiting for any word of the fate of their loved ing the meeting. “We believe we have been strung along, kept in the vague and often contradictory information coming from year-old IT engineer from Beijing, whose father and mother, Wang ones. At a sprawling hotel complex in Beijing, the relatives rise the dark and lied to by the Malaysian government.” In Kuala Malaysia Airlines. “If they can’t offer something firm, they ought to Linshi and Xiong Yunming, were both aboard the flight as part of each morning and eat breakfast - at least those who can muster Lumpur, Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein just shut up,” said Nan, who is representing the family as well as a group of Chinese artists touring Malaysia. the appetite - before attending a briefing on the missing plane. called on “all parties to be understanding during this extraordi- Yan’s 23-year-old girlfriend. Nan said Yan traveled frequently and The plane’s disappearance on its way from the Malaysian capi- Then follows another long day of watching the news and waiting, nary and difficult time,” and said officials would “do everything in had not talked about the Malaysia trip with his family, who come tal of Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 has hit China particular- before an evening briefing that inevitably offers little more infor- our power” to keep the relatives informed. “I’m psychologically from the eastern province of Jiangsu. “The last time he talked to ly hard, with 153 of the 239 people on board citizens of the mation. Amid the many theories and scant and often dubious, prepared for the worst and I know the chances of them coming us was about half a month before this happened. He travels quite People’s Republic. It was the first major incident to hit Chinese contradictory and disavowed findings, the relatives’ patience has back alive are extremely small,” said Nan Jinyan, sister-in-law of frequently on business trips anyway, so we don’t chat about his travelers since they began visiting abroad in major numbers at times worn thin. missing passenger Yan Ling, a 29-year-old engineer who had business trips on the phone,” Nan said. —AP