Im not so sure about this article. it may be very well true as the author stated but he never makes the clear distinction there are 2 Catholic Churches in China. One is the “official state/gov’t sanctioned Catholic Church” where the govt appoints the bishops and runs the congregation, etc... which Rome AGREED to, to keep the peace. Then there is the underground Catholic Church with no govt interference where if caught attending (attendance in secret-at peoples homes) the consequences are enormous-jail, death, etc...
To keep the peace!? No, it’s a straightforward appeasement policy by the Holy See toward China. The plan is to destroy the underground Church. The pope has already announced forcing the Church bishops to retire so the Chinese bureaucrats who are administrators of govt religion can take full control.