A bishop from China's "underground" Church died on Sunday after two years in solitary confinement, writes Francis Wong.

Bishop John Han Dingxiang, of Yong Nian Diocese in Hebei Province, had been repeatedly imprisoned for his opposition to the Government. Police cremated his body and buried the ashes only a few hours after his death, without a religious service and without telling his priests or faithful. "Why were the priests of his diocese not allowed to bless his remains, and, together with his faithful, to pray for this heroic shepherd and to view his body?" the statement from the American-based Cardinal Kung Foundation asked, urging the Vatican to investigate Bishop Han's death.

The bishop's death will strain the complex relations between Rome and Beijing, whose "official" Patriotic Church was set up to be independent of the Vatican. A step forward appeared to have been made on Sunday with the Vatican-approved ordination of Paul Xiao Zejiang, 40, as bishop in Guiyang in the province of Guizhou. It was the first episcopal ordination since the Pope issued a letter to Chinese Catholics on 30 June saying church authority was "uniquely the competence of the bishops" in full and open communion with Rome.

But Anthony Liu Bainian, vice chairman of the Patriotic Church, accused Rome of wanting to approve as bishops only those who opposed the Chinese Government.

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