Bishop Li Hui was consecrated July 27 as the coadjutor bishop of Pingliang, with approval of both the Holy See and the Chinese regime. The ceremony—the third since a secret Vatican-Beijing accord was renewed last October—was led by Bishop Ma Yinglin, the vice-president of the government-backed Patriotic Catholic Association.

In a separate incident, Father Joseph Liu of the Mindong diocese was arrested and tortured by police, AsiaNews reports, because he refused to join the Patriotic Association.