After 10 South Africans were detained in China we put on our thinking caps yesterday and mused as to what the reasons might be. We were wrong because the truth has now come out, although there are still a few gaps to be plugged.

According to Britain’s Foreign Office the South Africans, held alongside some UK nationals, were detained on suspicion that some had links to a terror group. A South African charity, Gift of the Givers Foundation, has confirmed that although five South Africans were released others will remain held without charge at a detention centre in inner Mongolia. Here’s IOL:

Chinese authorities said some of those arrested had been watching propaganda videos from a banned group in their hotel room, the charity added in its statement.

Five South Africans, three Britons and one Indian national make up the nine being held, it said.

They also added that amongst those detained are three relatives of Vodacom’s CEO Shameel Aziz Joosub and two medical doctors, who were part of the group enjoying a 47-day tour exploring ancient China. More from TimesLive:

“The families thank the South African government for their unwavering support and call upon the Chinese government to release the detainees immediately‚” Gift of the Givers said. “These individuals have no terror links (and) no criminal record.”

The timing of the arrests is not ideal given that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and several government officials are currently in China for trade-related talks. Perhaps they could take a break from talking dollars and cents and touch on quite how these South Africans came to end up being detained for watching a video in their hotel room.

I can think of a few videos that could raise eyebrows but you generally have to order those from the front desk. I imagine what they are accused of watching is something a little more serious.

[sources:iol&timeslive]