Brussels, October 2, 2002. On September 9th, a bishop in the Chinese underground Roman Catholic church, Mr Wei Jingyi, 44, who once served as secretary of a conference of Chinese bishops loyal to the Vatican, was picked up by police in the city of Qiqihar. The arrest appears to be a sign for China's tightening its repression on the spiritual leaders of eight million Chinese Catholics the Vatican estimates are loyal to the Pope, compared to only five million in the state-backed Catholic Church.
According to independent sources every single of the approximately 50 bishops of the underground Roman Catholic Church is currently either arrested, under house arrest, under strict surveillance or in hiding.

Question of Olivier Dupuis, MEP, radical, to the European Commission

”Is the Commission informed about this recent arrest ? Does the Commission have other elements which would suggest a possible tightening of the repression of unofficial churches in China ? If yes, what does the Commission intend to do in order to have the chinese authorities respect freedom of religion and belief ?”