HONG KONG (UCAN) -- It would be hard to find books on the Catholic Church for sale in mainland China judging from the offerings by mainland exhibitors at an annual book fair in Hong Kong.

Only one out of 13 stalls surveyed by UCA News on July 29, the opening day of the 14th Hong Kong Book Fair, was selling books with any reference to the Catholic Church.

However, Angel Du Tao of the Sanu Bookshop from Shenzhen told UCA News that most of these books deal with the "geographical and cultural aspects of biblical times," and should more appropriately be categorized "as history books rather than religious books."

Her stall also sold books containing illustrated "Bible stories, not Bibles." Du made this clarification several times.

Shenzhen is a special economic zone just north of Hong Kong's border with neighboring Guangdong province. The fair was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Du noted that Buddhist and Protestant books, which she also was selling, are more popular than Catholic ones. The books on Protestantism deal with the history, development and teachings of the Protestant Church.

A staff member of Guangdong Publications confirmed that his stall was not selling any religious books, and that this is a "practice."

"Basically, bookstores in mainland China do not sell religious books. Perhaps there is no such market," he added, requesting anonymity.

Another mainland exhibitor who also requested anonymity said the only religious books he was displaying were on Buddhism.

When asked about the popularity of religious books on the mainland, he declined to comment, saying the matter "is too sensitive."

Jiang Min of Shanghai Publications said his company sells Protestant, Buddhist and Taoist books, but not Catholic ones. He added that despite the fact that religious books in general are getting more popular on the mainland, books on the Catholic Church are still rare.

According to a China Church source, books on religion can be sold in public bookstores in China if they are censored and approved by the government. Books without such formal approval are sold only at places of worship.

Among the 325 exhibitors at the six-day book fair hosted by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, 42 were from mainland China, 14 from Taiwan and the rest from Hong Kong. The latter included local Buddhist, Catholic and Protestant organizations.

Father Dominic Chan Chi-ming, vicar general of Hong Kong Catholic diocese, officiated at the blessing ceremony of the Catholic exhibition area July 29. The area, about the size of a tennis court, was jointly run by 10 Catholic publishers and institutions including the diocesan publisher, weeklies, audiovisual center and bookstore.

Father Chan expressed his hope that more mainland bookstores could sell Catholic books from Hong Kong. He suggested "more communication between the Hong Kong diocese and the mainland book companies."

In addition to books, religious articles and mementos, the Catholic exhibits included a Bible on video compact disc with interactive learning features, and a Braille Bible for the blind.

According to the book fair organizer, among 6,719 newly released books, 1,676 books on religion form the biggest category. Books on Buddhism are the most numerous, followed by books on Protestantism and then Catholicism.

Lawrence Yau, Hong Kong Trade Development Council communications manager, told UCA News on July 28 that the large number of religious books does not indicate that Hong Kong people are particularly religious. "It is just that religious books do not have many sale outlets in the market," he explained.

The book fair was delayed a week due to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic from March to early June.

Even though there had been no new occurrences for weeks, infrared temperature-checking machines were installed at all entrances to the fair to make sure people who enter did not have a high temperature. Automatic spraying machines were also available for hand sterilization.

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