"Yes, it is very complicated here, and I have had to be, how do you say, both a serpent and a dove. I am both a serpent and a dove. The government thinks I'm too close to the Vatican, and the Vatican thinks I'm too close to the government. I'm a slippery fish squashed between government control and Vatican demands. When I got out of prison the Church here was in ruins; after I replaced my predecessor [Bishop Aloysius Zhang Jiashu, S.J. – consecrated illicitly], I wrote hundreds of letters to Catholics all over the world asking for money to restore the Catholic community here in Shanghai. Most of my money came from Germany – some came from America and other European countries. I received nothing from the Vatican. I tried to get the prayer for the Pope restored in the Missale Romanum. At that time the government forbade us from two things: we could not implement the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council – this would have been viewed as capitulating to the Vatican – and we were forbidden from reciting the prayer for the Pope during Mass. As far as the government was concerned the Church in China was entirely independent from Rome. I made ten trips to Beijing to ask the authorities to allow us to pray for the Pope in Mass, but they were against it. So, since we had to use the old Mass I contacted a German friend and asked him to save as many volumes of the Missale Romanum as he could – this was after the Council and everyone was throwing them away. He sent me more than 400 discarded books with the prayer for the Pope in them, which I distributed. I also had new copies printed in Shanghai and sent them out for use elsewhere. I succeeded. This is when the Pope's name was openly mentioned again in the Mass."

"I'm not a 'patriotic bishop'; I'm just a Catholic bishop. Look, I had a recent book published on the Diocese of Shanghai and the Patriotic Association does not appear in it once. In fact, when the Patriotic Association office moved temporarily away from the cathedral and chancery I quickly occupied the space for another use. So, when they wanted to move back there was no place for them – Shanghai thus does not have a Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association."

"No, it is not at all true in China right now that the line between us and the underground is disappearing. In fact, the division is growing worse. Few people really understand that we in the sanctioned Church suffer more because we are completely in the open – subject to the government's constant scrutiny. First, let me outline the situation in general terms. Some people think that the underground Church is the true Catholic Church in China, and that they are the only ones truly loyal to the Pope. They also state that they are more obedient than the sanctioned community. This is largely untrue – actually, the government knows where we are at all times – we live under enormous pressure to acquiesce to Party demands. The underground community is on the other hand free to move around at will. You know, according to canon law a priest must remain under the jurisdiction of the diocesan Ordinary, but the underground clergy float around all over China at will with great freedom; is this obeying Church law? And, when the Pope wrote his recent letter to China it was the official community that responded with careful obedience to the letter. The underground have almost completely ignored it. Is this obedience to the Pope? Also, when the Pope called for the two Catholic communities in China to heal our differences and work as one Church, Cardinal Zen in Hong Kong encouraged the underground Church to remain firm in their opposition to the sanctioned community. Is this what the Pope wants?"

"I would first of all say, 'Thank you. Thank you for understanding China's Catholics, as you showed in your recent letter.' The letter the Pope wrote to the Church in China was beautiful. I would additionally tell him that we love him. We love him and pray for him. We have been praying for him especially through his recent difficulties; the Church in China is on his side. The Church in China prays for him, and the diocese of Shanghai prays for him. Finally I would tell him that despite the little help we have received from Rome, I still serve the Vatican. I am still loyal to the Vatican. I am so happy with this Pope; I think he deeply understands the Church in China. He should use more discretion, however, when listening to the advice of some outside bishops. The situation here is complex."