If it is so secret, why is it in the news?

According to Tuesday's South China Morning Post, senior Vatican officials are in Beijing for "secret negotiations."
Ambrose Leung's article quotes everyone's favorite Cardinal Zen:

When asked to confirm the visit, Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, head of the Hong Kong Catholic diocese, said it was a "great development" that Vatican officials had been invited to continue the latest round of negotiations on Chinese soil.

"Since both sides have long indicated their wish to talk, it is a very good thing that Vatican officials are now talking with their Chinese counterparts in China. I think it is a friendly gesture [by Beijing]."

But Cardinal Zen cautioned that differences had to be settled before formal ties could be restored.

"I don't know about the details of the discussions, but I do not expect the talks will progress very quickly," he said. "Anyway, it is a good start. Beijing knows the two illicit ordinations of bishops were blunders and will not do it again."

Last week Beijing denied this was going on.