A man walks past a TV screen broadcasting a news program about Islamic State hostages in this Jan. 29, 2015 photo. (Photo : REUTERS)
Chinese authorities deported 20 foreigners from Britain, South Africa and India for watching video clips that advocated terrorism and religious extremism, the official state media reported. Two of the tourists reportedly blamed their arrests on a documentary about Genghis Khan.
The Xinhua News Agency reported late Saturday that the foreigners watched an unspecified documentary in a hotel room as well as video clips that advocated terrorism. Police also found similar clips on a mobile phone belonging to one of the South Africans.
The report cited the foreign affairs of Ordos City in China's Inner Mongolia region, where police had stopped the 10 South Africans, nine Britons, and one Indian on July 10 as they were traveling to Xi'an as part of their 47-day tour of the country. The British Embassy said that the group included nine British citizens and two with dual British-South African citizenships.
Britain's Press Association reported that the documentary was a BBC production of the 13th-century Mongol warrior Genghis Khan, citing a statement from two of the British tourists, husband and wife Hoosain and Tahira Jacobs. The report said that the video "may have mistakenly been deemed as 'propaganda' material.'"
"It can only be assumed that junior officials who made the initial arrest in Inner Mongolia made a mistake, due to perhaps their unfamiliarity of the English language," the statement said.
Genghis Khan has a complicated reputation in China. He is recognized as one of the greatest leaders in China's history, and his descendants founded a Chinese dynasty.
But Khan, born in the steppes of Mongolia, also united his army, including Turkic Uyghurs, and conquered much of what is now Han Chinese-dominated China--a legacy which seen as a rallying point for non-Han China.
According to the Jacobs, the tourists were composed of Muslims, Christians and Hindus who have traveled together in the past in countries including Israel and the U.S. The group has also visited the Genghis Khan Mausoleum in Ordos the day before their arrest.
Xinhua said that five South Africans, three Britons and an Indian national were criminally detained on July 11 in connection with a law that "stipulates punishment for allegedly organizing, leading or joining terrorist groups."
It said that the nine "admitted to their illegal acts and repented," without elaborating, and were deported on Saturday.
The remaining 11 were deported on Wednesday.
