ANKARA

Hong Kong's top Catholic cleric, Bishop Stephen Chow, arrived in Beijing on Monday night for a visit after nearly 30 years, local media reported.

It has been the first visit to Beijing by a Hong Kong bishop since Hong Kong's return to China in 1997, China's English language daily Global Times said.

Chow's visit at the invitation of Beijing Bishop Joseph Li Shan came weeks after China unilaterally installed a new bishop in Shanghai, an appointment that took the Vatican by surprise.

The Vatican, which has previously accused Beijing of violating a bilateral accord renewed last October over the appointment of bishops, said it was informed of the decision just a few days before the announcement.

Inked in 2018, the deal was aimed at easing a longstanding divide among mainland China’s roughly 12 million Catholics who have been split between an underground Church loyal to the Vatican and the state-supervised Catholic Patriotic Association.

For the first time since the 1950s, both sides recognized the pope as the supreme leader of the Catholic Church.

Chow was named as bishop of Hong Kong by Pope Francis in May 2021.