Once again, China and the Vatican appear to talk past each other

Exhibit A: China's "non-negotiables"

"In a statement to the newspaper China Daily, the director of the Chinese religious-affairs bureau reaffirmed the two traditional pre-conditions for Beijing-Vatican rapprochement: the severing of ties with Taiwan and "noninterference" in China's internal affairs."

Exhibit B: The Vatican's hope for progress

Meanwhile, Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong said that Beijing and the Vatican could re-establish diplomatic relations by the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Reuters reported. "I think it's a very reasonable target," the cardinal told the agency. "The process may be long and it may be short. It depends on how they [China's leaders] open their way of seeing things."

Go ahead and read the rest of the article, but clearly, as the line goes, "something's gotta give."