Xinjiang police apologize to reporters

KASHGAR: Officials from both the border police department and the foreign affairs department here yesterday apologized to two Japanese journalists after clashing with them on Monday, the Xinhua News Agency said.

The two men - Masami Kawakita from the Chunichi Shimbun newspaper and Shinji Katsuta from Nippon TV - clashed with border police in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, as they tried to film inside a restricted area at about 11 pm on Monday night.

The pair was later detained for questioning, Xinhua said.