Sunday, April 3 2005 18:18 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Beijing: Communist China today (Apr 3, 2005) condoled the death of Pope John Paul II and offered to re-establish ties with the Vatican if it promised non-interference in the religious affairs of the atheist state.

It also hoped that the new Pope could create "favourable conditions" for Sino-Vatican relations.

China extends its condolence over the death of Pope John Paul II and hopes to improve the relations between China and Vatican, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in Beijing.

"We express our condolences over the death of Pope John Paul II," and "we are willing to improve the relations with Vatican on the basis of the two principles."

The two principles demand the Vatican to terminate "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan and to promise that it will not interfere in China's internal affairs, including any intervention under the pretext of religious affairs, the official Xinhua news agency quoted Liu as saying.

Liu said China would consistently adhere to two basic principles in dealing with the China-Vatican relations. China hopes the Vatican, under the leadership of a new Pope, could create favourable conditions for the development of China-Vatican relations.

According to Liu, Pope John Paul II had once apologised for the wrongs against the Chinese people committed by some Catholic missionaries during the colonial period, and the Pope had said that the Vatican had religious ties with the Chinese catholic believers, which should not tamper the unity of the Chinese nation and impair China's independence and sovereignty in any forms.