ROME — Pope Francis has rejected the label “undemocratic” to describe China’s communist regime, insisting that the issue is too complex to allow for such characterizations.
“I cannot get on board with calling China undemocratic; I won’t do that because it’s such a complex country,” the pontiff told journalists during his return trip from Kazakhstan to Rome Thursday. “Sure, there are things that seem undemocratic to us, that is true.”
“Labeling is difficult and I’m not ready to do that, since they are impressions, so instead I try to support the path of dialogue,” he declared.
“Understanding China takes a century, and we do not live for a century,” the pope said. “The Chinese mentality is a rich mentality, and when it gets a little sick, it loses its richness; it is capable of making mistakes.”
“In order to understand we have chosen the path of dialogue, open to dialogue,” he added.
Francis said that “the bilateral Vatican-Chinese commission is going well, slowly, because the Chinese pace is slow, they have an eternity to go forward: they are a people of endless patience,” partly in reference to the 2018 Sino-Vatican deal on the naming of bishops in the country, which is due for renewal next month.
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