950824

2 HK newsmen

missing from

China missile

test site

HONG KONG: Two journalists from Hong Kong, who were sent to cover China's missile exercises in the East China Sea, have been missing since early this week, it was reported on Thursday.

The two, reporter Wat Wing-yin and photographer Tse Ming-chong, of Next Magazine, did not report back for work on Monday after they went to Fuzhou and Xiamen in southeastern China's Fujian province last week to cover missile tests off Taiwan, newspapers said.

Cheung Kim-hung, chief editor of the weekly, was quoted as saying it was very likely they had been detained by Chinese authorities.

A local television network filming in Fujian was also told by officials there that two Hong Kong men were arrested for entering a restricted area there.

However, both Fujian authorities and Xinhua News Agency, China's de facto representative in Hong Kong, have been tightlipped over the report.

Journalists from Hong Kong must seek permission from Xinhua before they can report on China.

Next Magazine is owned by Jimy Lai, the founder of the Giordano clothes chain who had irked Beijing for attacking Chinese premier Li Peng.-AFP