China: Foreigners detained over 'terrorist' materials

Nine people - South African, British and Indian nationals - remained in detention on Thursday, apparently on suspicion of using or spreading terrorist material.

Zhang Xi, an official at the foreign affairs office of Ordos, said: "Foreign tourists have been detained by the police here, I heard they looked at and propagated something about violence and terrorism."

A group of 20 people from the South African charity Gift of the Givers Foundation was on a 47-day historical tour of the country. They were detained at an airport in the Inner Mongolian city of Ordos last Friday.

Of the nine still in custody, five are South Africans, three are British and one is Indian according to the Foundation. The eleven other members have been released and have left China.

Imtiaz Sooliman, head of Gift of the Givers Foundation, reported that Chinese authorities said some of those arrested had been watching propaganda videos from a banned group while in their hotel room.

"The Chinese have been very vague saying that someone in the group has some links to a suspected terror group and that someone has some links to a banned group and that the real reason for the incarceration is that someone was watching propaganda videos in the hotel," Gift of the Givers said in a statement.

South African VP questions detention

South African deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa is on a five day official visit to China where he has raised the issue of the detained South Africans.

In Pretoria, Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane told reporters that consultations with Chinese authorities were ongoing. "The matter has been raised at the highest level possible, taking advantage of the deputy president's presence in China," she said.

jm/msh (AFP, Reuters)