Chinese Foreign Ministry Sunday issued a statement to express its "utmost indignation" and "strong protest" against a "canonization" ceremony held by the Vatican.

Following is the full text of the statement:

In disregard of the strong opposition of the Chinese side, the Vatican held on October 1 a ceremony for the "canonization" of a number of foreign missionaries and their followers, who committed notorious crimes in China. The Government, people and the Catholic Church of China hereby express their utmost indignation and strong protest against this matter.

As is known to all, some foreign Catholic missionaries were the very perpetrators and accomplices in colonialist and imperialist invasion of China in the contemporary history. Some of those canonized by the Vatican this time perpetrated outrages such as raping and looting in China and committed unforgivable crimes against the Chinese people. With regard to these crimes, the Vatican has never repented. Instead, it has now gone so far as to canonize these evil-doing sinners. This is a flagrant provocation against the Chinese people, an act aimed at reversing the verdict on the history of colonialist and imperialist invasion of China, and a gross insult to the Chinese people' patriotic resistance against foreign aggression and oppression. In doing so, the Vatican has seriously hurt the national pride and dignity of the Chinese people.

The Vatican, while expressing its intention to improve its relations with China, has time and again gone against its own commitment to non-interference in China's internal affairs and that on the question of Taiwan. Now it has stubbornly insisted on the canonization, which has severely damaged the very basis of the normalization of China-Vatican relations. It will exert a grave negative impact on the normalization process. The Vatican should be held responsible for all this.

(Xinhua 10/01/2000)