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8
FabrizioBozzato
transnationalhierocraticorganization;
2
thefactthatitssupremegovernment,theHoly
See,hasinternationallegalpersonality;anditsroleininternationalaffairsovercenturies
ofvenerablehistory.3TheHolySee,basedintheVaticanCityState(VCS),maintains
diplomaticrelationswith183sovereignstates(TheEuropeanUnionandtheSovereign
MilitaryOrderofMaltaaretobeaddedtothisnumber)andpermanentrepresentatives
inthirty-threeinternationalorganizations.4
Atpresent,onlyahandfulofcountries-seven-donotbestowdiplomaticre-
cognitionupontheApostolicSee,astheHolySeeisalsoknown.Amongthosepolities,
onestandsapartfromtherestforitssize,population,economy,geopoliticalimportance
andoutwardforeignpolicyorientation.ThatcountryisthePeople’sRepublicofChina
(PRC),astatethatisunquestionablytobestridethe21stcenturysceneasaleading
worldpower.However,itwouldnotbeentirelycorrecttostatethattheHolySeehas
notdiplomaticrepresentationinChina.Infact,theApostolicSeeistheonlysovereign
EuropeanentitywithdiplomatictiestotheRepublicofChina(ROC),theofficialname
forTaiwan,whichcurrentlyhasfifteendiplomaticalliesintotal.5
TheROC,whichwasestablishedin1912replacingthelastChinesedynasty
(Qing),wasformerlythenationalgovernmentofallChina.However,itlostcontrol
ofthemainlandtothePeople’sRepublicofChina(PRC)asaresultoftheChinese
CivilWarin1949,andsincethenitsadministrationhasbeenrestrictedtotheisland
groupsofTaiwan(Formosa),thePescadores,Kinmen,andMatsu.6Overtheensuing
decades,theROChasbeencommonlyreferredtoas‘Taiwan’,andsincethemid-
1970sthename‘China’hasbeenincreasinglyusedtoidentifythePRC.7HolySee-
ROCrelationshavebeencontinuingsince1942.In1971,whentheROClostitsseat
ofWarsaw.HeservesasAmbassadoroftheSovereignMilitaryOrderofMaltatotheRepublicofNauru.
Hispublicationsandlecturescoverawidearrayofinternationalpoliticsissues.
1
J.L.Tauran,‘IstheHolySeeaPoliticalPower?’,magisteriallecture,ProvidenceUniversity,Taichung
(Taiwan),23November2005,p.1.
2
InMaxWeber’swords,ahierocraticorganizationis‘anorganization,whichenforcesitsorder
throughpsychiccoercionbysanctioningreligiousbenefits.Acompulsoryhierocraticorganizationwillbe
calleda“church”insofarasitsadministrativestaffclaimsamonopolyofthelegitimateuseofhierocratic
coercion’.See:M.Weber,EconomyandSociety.AnOutlineofInterpretativeSociology,Berkeley:University
ofCaliforniaPress,1978,p.212.
3
R.J.Araujo,‘TheHolySee:InternationalPersonandSovereign’,AveMariaInternationalLaw
Journal,2011,Vol.1,No.1,pp.1-3.
4
HolySeePressOffice,‘InformativeNoteontheDiplomaticRelationsoftheHolySee’,07.01.2019,
7January2019,https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2019/01/07/190107a.html
(accessedon6October2019).
5
R.Jennings,‘KiribaticutstieswithTaiwan,presagingswitchtoChina’,SeattleTimes,19September
2019,https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/kiribati-cuts-ties-with-taiwan-presaging-switch-to-
china/(accessedon6October2019).
6
C.Sui,‘LegacydebateasRepublicofChinamarks100years’,BBCNews,10October2011,https://
www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-15218596(accessedon7October2019).
7
J.M.,‘WhyChinaandTaiwanaredivided’,TheEconomist,26August2014,http://www.economist.
com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/08/economist-explains-16(accessedon6October2019).
