Melissa chan welcome to news asia thank you for joining us the Catholic Church has renewed a deal it made 2 years ago with china which is an officially atheist communist state concerning bishops there the agreement now gives the pope a file say over the appointment of them but beijing is the one who gets to come up with the choices chinese authorities had previously selected bishops without the say of the vatican and a division formed between state sanctioned clergy and underground bishops who operated outside state control the former bishop of Hong Kong Cardinal joseph dan has spoken up about this a prodemocrat he has expressed concern over the churchs engagement with china heres the interview with cardinal to china and the facts occurred recently renewed a secretive agreement signed 2 years ago it allowed the. With beijing and the holy c. S. A. In appointing bishops in china salma Hong Kong BishopCardinal Joseph sand accused the secretary of state cardinal pyra lynn of betraying the 12000000 catholic populations and your peace the communist regime they always say a bad agreement is better than no agreement ike another the send a bad agreement means a women which is immoral which is against our faith how can it be better than the agreement incredible so is a b b b trailer and i suspect that the police wants to. Have these. People much your relation. But thats very bad because thats a political thing its not religious we are religious so we 1st of all its our faith. Carbonneau sanjo needs to rome earlier this month in hopes to meet the pope but in saying he is why reached out the underground charge in china will face even more persecution as state run church again to the chatham a c. From this secret agreement the 2 years since. The things went wrong wrong very wrong. Because the the end around receive support from the vatican the older bishops die and. The holy sea dont give new bishops to the underground they give many bishops to the church and now that individual church all the bishops are legitimate. Youve made them legit but they are still the bad people are there. And so the end of around here abandon betray because they are those people to the old quality of the pope who cardinal son was born in shanghai 88 years ago he came to hong kong in 1948 just before the communists took power in china he thinks the fattah can is on the wrong track of us policy the appeasement policy towards space the Pope John Paul the 2nd the pub anything they had very different experience they lived and not just. Then communism. From russia. The pope comes from south america is and ascended that pope francis had the same body for the communist because the communists in the south america are good people they come out to defend the poor people and the totalitarian military government but now china is i am the communist the commies are the prosecutor. Of politic. Actually it was a failure in europe but now they use a method for what china so it was a disaster has been an outspoken critic of the communist regime over the years thats to put him in rare sun at the National Security law imposed by beijing but he refused to remain silent i would be a liar you. Say you are not all everybody is what he had to lose is a freedom. But thats ok because. You see we believe in god. When god gave you a duty he is going to give you also the strength to do that ok. For more we have Martin Jackie religion correspondent joining us Martin Cardinal sin just talked about his point of view and it does seem as if its morally complex for the vatican to be engaging with a country like china with its human rights track record what is the point of view of pope francis i think that there is a political concern and political concern is how is it that one deals with a government that has had a rough going with a religious group essentially the vatican leads a ripper sentence and the 2nd question is the moral question how we said that the vatican should position itself in relation with a country that has actually a very well established record of Human Rights Violations the position of this vatican its actually one that is fairly understandable which is studied they concentrate on engagement because they think that actually disengagement leaves the communities the catholic communities in china are very serious disadvantage so the position is not perfect but that is probably because it is impossible in such a situation to actually produce a perfect solution they should hear is if you have people on the ground that are the bend and on good offices of the vatican then the vatican has string gauge with the Chinese Government obviously this doesnt please everybody and cardinals then its one of them the u. S. Its another actor in the same position well you just mentioned the United States cardinal then had tried to gain an audience at the vatican with the pope he didnt get one another person who tried to meet with the pope was u. S. Secretary of state mike pompei oh and he wasnt able to gain an audience what was that about well i think that you know the issue of cardinals then. But much more pronounced with with my compare they come into the vatican or they come had conversations with the vatican and eventually in the. Middle of what are very public battles between china and regions i mean in the in the in the media driven African Space but also sort of an electoral battle in the case of the u. S. And this is something that the vatican systematically and its not only this pope has essentially avoided which is getting involved in what are essentially Public Campaign so this once again this one this pope is one that has done most of his policy his policy work specifically in the issues of International Affairs behind closed doors we find out only months later exactly what he said it was happening so i think that the reaction the sense its correct to say that they were parallel i mean the vatican was avoiding the spotlight into which cardinals and make them pay all wanted to pull the vatican in one of the things cardinal dan was talking about was the situation of the climate in china and it is a fact that there are bishops that the vatican recognizes the for the sick right from 2 years ago that the Chinese Government does not recognize and these bishops have been operating underground theyve suffered a throat for their beliefs and in fact my understanding is at least one of them to my knowledge was arrested this year he was 70 he is 70 years old again you feel like some people at least feel as if the vatican has turned its back on their most faithful in china i think that there is. No justification probably in the sense that if china is the government i mean its actually treating this wake up to the communities and particularly bishops and priests appointed by the vatican without essentially the certification of the of the Chinese Communist party then dealing with the Chinese Government essentially a form of betrayal but i think that this leads us in a way back to the 1st question which is how is the vatican to calculate how to protect these communities other than to some degree engaging the communist party so i mean its quite clear that simply getting out of the stage and letting the chinese. Overman do as they please its no solution at all it might be very satisfying morally yes might be very good to be able to say well we have done the right thing in terms of principles but it leaves all of those people that you just mentioned a very precarious situation. Now we know cardinals and point of view and feelings is there controversy among the Church Leaders about pope francis its this years most certainly most certainly i mean its not its not its not. Its not a decision i mean the extension of the agreement with china that was taken lightly also because there is a very strong internal fight which actually biddys. Story. Conservatives within the church against many of the people that circulate around the popes the popes sphere so in a way what bomb peo an old zen zen has been saying for really quite a long time especially in the context of bottle study politically have to do a lot with china in the u. S. You know really give a munition to a lot of the people that are standing there criticizing the ball. Thank you my pleasure. For years anyone refusing to participate in south koreas Compulsory Military Service to face up to 3 years in jail and a lot of social stigma with the south still technically at war with north korea the government sees conscription as a vital line in the countrys defense but now after a court ruling theres an alternative way for Conscientious Objectors to serve. In military service was never going to be compatible with his religious beliefs he says being a jehovahs witness meant he had to refuse conscription. If jesus had allowed war and violence then it would have been the most sacred act but he did not and so i was a follower of jesus i need to take the path of furthest away from violence. For those beliefs jang will go to jail but as of this week he will no longer enter prison as a convict but rather as a worker that stands to a court ruling that now allows alternative service for Conscientious Objectors at the moment natural tentative service is only available inside a prison. I think its great there are many ways to serve society. If we work hard under this new system and i believe in the future there will be more variations of alternative service that will benefit everyone. This is what most young able bodied korean men are expected to do say goodbye to their families outside a military boot camp and serve their country for 18 months. Controversially for the alternative goodbye is even longer jan and his fellow Conscientious Objectors will have to spend 3 years working inside this prison. The fact we have to be separated for 3 years and i need to raise our children without him really worries me. At least now part of the stigma has been lifted and Conscientious Objectors like these wont be tarred with the criminal conviction. That for today theres always more on the dot com for slash agent be sure to check us out on facebook and twitter we leave you with pictures of capital life from hong kong and china thank you for watching it will feel next time. My 1st boss i heard was the sewing machine. Where i come from women are bound by this notion for women something as simple as learning how to write a buy side those isnt. Since i was a little girl i wanted to have advice id love my home but it took me years to when i. Finally gave up and went to buy any advice i could but returned with the sewing machine sewing i suppose was more appropriate for girls than writing advice and now i want to meet all of those women back home who are bound by their duties and social rules and inform them about the basic rights my name is the amount of people and their work adds you to. The countdown is on to the u. S. Election and american writers against trump are warning against what they see as the decline of democracy with acclaimed authors siri whose foot and paul auster 2 of the most prominent voices more on that as well as the stories coming up at the Cannes Film Festival originally scheduled for may kicked off in much reduced form on the court as a for a 3 day edition with pandemic restrictions and with livable space in london increasingly scarce and pricey dont move improve is the new motto as architects search for Creative Space saving solutions. Welcome to the show well its only 6 days away the 2020 u. S. Election which from both domestic and political perspectives is widely believed to be a watershed moment for the deeply divided United States of america which is why multiple groups of artists and creatives have been using their voices and their art to inspire voters to get trump out of office. Donald trump during his 1st Election Campaign even back then a few well known artists and intellectuals supported him that hasnt changed but. Now that people know what to expect warnings about reelecting charm his president has grown to. Call stern series one of the most famous littery couples in the u. S. Theyve been married for nearly 40 years each time one of them writes a new book the other is its fast reader and critic. Both of them believe trumps reelection would pose a threat to democracy which is why together with those they set up the platform writers against term. During weekly online discussions and webinars they make the point that the u. S. Elections in 2020 could be the most important in a generation the pressure of living under the trumpet ministration and watching day to day their erosion of institutions that i think Many Americans thought were safe has been a shocking experience and its affected me personally i have been writing. More political than i ever have in my life. I have spent more time thinking about what i one person can do to. Counter what is happening i think we are in danger of losing this democratic republic. Magill said musician fix the all star and have friends manage the social Media Presence of writers against charm writers we know words matter they matter because they change minds we have a choice to make for our future for the future of our children the reelection of trump and the Republican Party could mean the end of democracy in america this question is involved into. An effort to get out the vote particularly the vote of young people on the Progressive Side of things who are not happy with the biden harris ticket and have decided not to vote i mean there are a lot of these you listed young people who say i dont want to contaminate myself with this i i dont like any of it well its its a dangerous position at this time to have because by not voting theyre essentially voting for what they dont want to which is trump and the republicans its a fight for the soul of america i will plan to do this Pandemic Response of. Us intellectual say its time to take a stand. And im joined once again by my colleague Adrian Kennedy from our culture desk welcome adrian but its not just intellectuals obviously who are speaking up against musicians and the number of singers have also been quite vocal thats why its been a series of high profile battles between 2 objects to trumps use of their music in his Campaign Rallies john focused see for example has issued a cease and desist letter over the use of Creedence Clearwater revival tapes fortunate son. Young find a lawsuit in the use of rock in the free world saying he couldnt bear to hear it as a theme song for trump. And phil collins says objection to the use of the night which played at a rally just this month. Even heard that american actor jack black and his infamous band tenacious d. Have launched an all star cover of time warp to mobilize and voters thought it was funny and i think we can take a look at it. Jump to the left doesnt jump to the left its just a jump to the. Hands on your head. Yes hes gotten started on the rock the vote so its a stance about getting the votes out project black actually wanted to tour in support of the democrats and the image to encourage twisting to the left so go figure are the boys and supporters include. Taylor swift billy irish the list obviously goes on and i mean there obviously are some artists who have have supported a 2nd round for trump thats right including 50 cent who has been complaining about the fight against. Tax rates for high earners he said he didnt want to become 20 cent but hes since backtracked a bit on violence. Oscar winning actor jon voight trump posting his message on social media he said that biden was evil and finally standing up for trumps kid rock he tweeted picture him self with trump on the golf course and he had found a rally in michigan oh i have to see who has the most to sing about when the polls close next tuesday thank you very much adrian for bringing us that background on voters or artists against and for trump obviously Adrian Kennedy thanks very much thank you. For the Cannes Film Festival for 2020 was dealt a massive blow when widespread european lockdowns in the spring forced its cancellation last may organizers didnt want to forgo the event entirely though and so despite rising infection numbers in france a mini festival kicked off on tuesday offering 3 days of films and a symbolic if sobering red carpet. The 73rd special edition of the Cannes Film Festival got started on tuesday evening with stars conspicuous by their absence the red carpet was rolled out none the less the more it lacks charm said one visitor is just not the same said another. But as this punter said you cant stop everything people are depressed enough. That coronavirus pandemic has left the iconic festival a shadow of its former self the opening is usually a lavish affair but juge of the government mandated curfew it was a muted event this year held at 6 in the evening visitor numbers are restricted and the audience has to abide by social distancing rules. The opening film is a french comedy set in a prison and based on a true story it stars french algerian acting as an ounce of what who runs a theater workshop in a prison troupe gets to take their staging of Samuel Becketts waiting to go. Outside. 56. 00 films were supposed to screen in the competition now only 4 will be shown during the 3 day festival and only one golden palm will be awarded in the short film category. And on now to other culture news that was making headlines at the midweek germany will host one of 2 European Capitals of culture in 2025 and cabinets in the eastern