China has rejected charges by the Roman Catholic Church that it violates human rights and represses religion, after three bishops were reportedly arrested in the past month.
China does not allow its Catholics to recognise the authority of Pope John Paul and demands followers join state-backed patriotic groups if they want to worship openly.
The Vatican on Wednesday demanded in a statement that the Chinese government explain why it had arrested the bishops.
However, China says the Vatican's accusations are groundless.
A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman says the country's constitution guarantees the right to religious freedom, but if the law is broken violaters must be punished.
Our China correspondent, John Taylor, reports China has also denied the arrest of Catholic Bishop Zhao Zhendong, who the Vatican claims has not been heard from since May.
China's Religious Affairs Bureau says the bishop has been receiving "religious policy" training, and has returned to a village where there are no telephones.
The Roman Catholic Church estimates it has about 8 million followers in China, compared with about 5 million who follow the state-backed Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.
Some worship secretly and are members of the so-called underground church.