Benedict Rogers, the founder of Hong Kong Watch, has said that it would be “totally unacceptable and outrageous” for the Vatican to establish full diplomatic relations with China.

The British human-rights activist made his statement after the Vatican moved its top diplomatic officials out of the Taiwan and Hong Kong, making them both apostolic nuncios in Africa. Rogers expressed the fear that the moves were made to satisfy demands from Beijing, and that the Vatican is now “on the brink of establishing diplomatic relations” with China.