Pope Francis issued his message to the Catholics of China and the universal Church shortly after the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China signed a provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops.  

HONG KONG (UCAN): Wang Zuo’an, deputy director of the Central United Front Work Department told a December 18 symposium, held by the Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church in China and the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, that no foreign religious organisation or foreign powers would be able to endanger national interests through control and manipulation of the Chinese Catholic Church.
 

BRUSSELS (UCAN): The new York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a December 3 letter to the foreign and interior ministers of European Union (EU) member countries, that Turkic Muslims from China should not be forcibly returned without a full and fair individualised examination of their risk of being ill-treated.
 
The rights organisation also urged governments to expedite asylum claims and investigate and address the Chinese government’s intimidation of Turkic Muslim diaspora communities.
 

HONG KONG (UCAN): Human Rights Watch called on Chinese authorities to immediately release Pastor Wang Yi and scores of members of the Early Rain Covenant Church, in the southwestern city of Chengdu in Sichuan province.
 
On December 9 and 10, police in Chengdu arrested Pastor Wang Yi and more than 100 member of the Protestant Church which is not registered with the government.
 
Human Rights Watch said on December 14 that authorities should also return Church properties and allow the members to resume worship services.

HONG KONG (UCAN): Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin of Wenzhou, and Father Lu Danhua of Lishui, were freed by authorities in China’s Zhejiang province on November 23 and 22.
 
Bishop Shao had been taken away by authorities on November 9, while Father Lu had been under detentions since December 29 last year.
 
Father Lu, who was ordained by Bishop Shao in 2016, is the only priest in sparsely populated Lishui Diocese, which is adjacent to Wenzhou.
 

HONG KONG (UCAN): For the eighth time since he was ordained a priest in 1999, Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin of the unofficial Church in Wenzhou in Zhejiang province, China, has been detained by the authorities.
 
A source called John, said that the 55-year-old bishop was taken away on the morning of November 9 by personnel of Yueqing Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau.
 
“The authorities did not explain the reason, only saying that the bishop would be returned to the diocese within 10 to 15 days,” he said.