China on Thursday rejected reports that a Roman Catholic bishop was in police detention, saying religious authorities had merely questioned him on suspicion he had gone overseas illegally.
A US-based religious rights group said this week Wei Jingyi, 45, an underground Roman Catholic bishop of Qiqihar in the north-eastern province of Heilongjiang, was taken into police custody from a highway toll booth on March 5.
The Vatican later called on Beijing to reveal charges against him.
"China's public security organs have not taken any restrictive measures against him," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a news conference.
"The related rumours are not in line with fact."
Wei was on his way back from the airport in the provincial capital Harbin after picking up two foreign friends when he was detained, according to the US group, the Cardinal Kung Foundation.
A provincial religious affairs official said his bureau had stopped Wei to "talk with him" about irregularities with his travel documents.