The Chinese government has issued a vague denial of the account by American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who claim they were on Chinese soil when they were detained by North Korean soldiers on the border. From Reuters:
They said they rushed back to the Chinese side but North Korean guards chased them and dragged them into North Korea.
But the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu rejected their account.
“According to the understanding of the relevant (Chinese) departments, they did not find the situation as you described it,” she told reporters in answer to a question about the two U.S. journalists’ account.
ad_iconJiang deflected repeated questions about how the two were seized, telling them that her meaning was plain enough.
She did not give details of how China reached its conclusions, except to say that the investigation was carried out by local authorities on the border.