Nine Britons are reported to be amongst twenty foreign nationals detained in China for watching terrorist propaganda.
China’s Foreign Ministry said the twenty foreign travellers were suspected of committing crimes in Ordos in China’s Inner Mongolia region. It said nine were criminally detained on Saturday, which means they can be held for up to 37 days by police while investigations continue, and 11 were ordered deported.
The British embassy in Beijing confirmed that nine Britons and two dual British-South African nationals were amongst those being detained, and said six had been deported. It said it was “seeking further clarification” from authorities about those still being held.
Imtiaz Sooliman, a South African disaster response specialist, said in a statement on the Facebook page of his agency, Gift of the Givers, that the ten South Africans, nine Britons and one Indian were on a 47-day tour of ancient Chinese sites. Sooliman said nine members of the group were accused of watching terror propaganda in their hotel rooms and that they would continue to be detained.
Asked to confirm whether South Africans, Britons and an Indian citizen had been detained at Ordos Ejin Horo airport, a press officer at the Ordos police bureau said the case was under investigation and refused to give details.
