To become a Catholic priest in China, you have to be nominated by the CCP to the the Vatican.
On August 5, 2016 South China Morning Post published what has been “big news” among China’s Catholics: “Beijing, Vatican Reach Initial Accord on Appointment of Bishops.”2 In this article, the head of Hong Kong’s Catholics, Cardinal John Tong Hon, is reported to have announced that under a preliminary agreement between the Vatican and China’s officials, the pope will choose from a list of proposed candidates for ordination to bishop by China’s bishops and state authorities, which would finally normalize how bishops are selected and ordained in China.
Fortunately, after working for many years on this issue, the Catholic Church has gradually gained the reconsideration of the Chinese government, which is now willing to reach an understanding with the Holy See on the question of the appointment of bishops in the Catholic Church in China and seek a mutually acceptable plan. . . . The Apostolic See has the right to choose from the recommended list the candidates it considers as most suitable and the right to reject the candidates recommended by a bishops’ conference of China and the bishops in the provinces under it.3
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2016/08/07/china-and-vatican-make-preliminary-agreement-on-the-election-of-bishops/