何去何從：中臺梵三角關係中的人權與宗教自由

Abstract

鄧小平在1979年開放政策之初，教廷於1987年主動向中共提議雙方和談，意欲恢復「中梵關係」。這行動對臺灣和教廷建立的「臺梵關係」，有莫大的衝擊。因北京堅持若中梵建立外交關係，必要臺梵斷交。2018年9月中梵簽訂了，有意先解決中梵談判的核心問題－指派主教一事。這「臨時協議」增加臺梵可能斷交的壓力，加上2019年中美爭霸的過程中，中美在貿易、科技、金融等要談的問題將包括「宗教自由」在內的「人權」問題。加上美國以宗教自由問題拉攏梵蒂岡，香港於2019年多個月的抗爭內有天主教會和基督教會的支持，既令北京頭痛，又使中梵關係加增變數。本文旨在討論今日的「中梵關係」和「臺梵關係」加上中美新冷戰期加入新的「人權」和「宗教自由」元素後，有何新發展。

When Deng Xiaoping began launching the Open Door Policy, the Vatican in 1987 began wooing the People`s Republic of China (P.R.C) in order to reestablish the Sino-Vatican relations. This posed a great challenge to the Republic of China (R.O.C.) in Taiwan, which had already established the Taiwan-Vatican relations. As a result, Beijing from the beginning insisted that the prerequisite of normalized relations between China and the Vatican is to sever the Taiwan-Vatican diplomatic relationship. Thus, in September 2018, the Sino-Vatican Provisional Agreement was signed to resolve the core problem between China and the Vatican, which was the appointment of Chinese bishops. This sudden signing of the agreement led to an increased pressure on Taiwan, as it meant there was the possibility that their relations with the Vatican relations will be severed. On the other hand, 2019 saw the Sino-U.S. rivalry in trade, technology, finance, and military, etc. Of these issues, both China and the U.S. would like to discuss the question of human rights. Furthermore, the addition of unpredictable factors in Sino-Vatican relations, such as the problem of free religion that caused the U.S. in trying to draw closer to the Vatican and the rise in support of Christians, including Catholics in Hong Kong`s pro-democratic movements in 2019, gave Beijing extra headache. Hence, this article tries to discuss the future possible developments of the Sino-Vatican-Taiwan relations with so many variables coming into play in the global international political landscape.