The Vatican should understand the ordination of bishops by Chinese church, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in Beijing on Thursday.

China hopes the Vatican could see it in a positive perspective, allowing for the history of bilateral relations between China and the Vatican and the current conditions of China's Catholic church, Jiang said.

Jiang said the principles of the Chinese government on its relations with the Vatican are consistent, namely the Vatican should sever its relations with the Taiwan authorities and not interfere in China's internal affairs under the pretext of religion.

"We are sincere in improving relations with the Vatican and would explore ways to do that based on the above two principles," she said.

Source: Xinhua