Pope Francis' silence is puzzling as Chinese hackers infiltrate Vatican

China and Vatican expected to hold talks in September regarding the appointment of bishops to the churches of China.

The two sides are expected to renew an agreement that was signed in 2018. But China does not believe in playing fair and, therefore, decided to hack the Vatican.

China targeted the Vatican's computers and the holy see study mission to China which is a group of informal Vatican diplomats based in Hong Kong negotiating the catholic church's status with China.

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The infiltrations began in early May by a state-sponsored Chinese group.

Experts say the modus operandi was very similar to recent Chinese-approved hacking operations. One of the attacks reportedly came in the form of a fake letter.

Beijing has already bought the pope's silence as he does not say a word against China. He does not even exercise the little power he has in the selection of bishops for China.

Experts say China infiltrated the Vatican as it wanted to find out the Vatican's relation to Hong Kong mission. It also wanted to snoop on the group's position on Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement.

China has previously launched cyberattacks on Buddhist Tibetans, Uighur Muslims and Falun Gong practitioners outside China.

When asked about the allegations of hacking the Vatican, China called itself a defender of cybersecurity.
Meanwhile, to impress China the Vatican has maintained a stoic silence on Uighurs and Hong Kong.

The pope even chose to skip a portion of his Sunday address script just because it referred to the Hong Kong security law.

The world is pulling up Beijing for its hammering of international law, cybersecurity and global health but the Vatican is quiet?