IN BRIEF (Page 4)

Beijing

FM complains over Zambian arrests

China has lodged a complaint with Zambia over the arrest of 31 Chinese people for alleged illegal mining in the African country. Lin Songtian, director of the Department of African Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, raised concerns over the arrests during a meeting in Beijing on Sunday with Geoffrey Banda, charge d'affaires of the Zambian embassy in Beijing. Lin said China was strongly against the indiscriminate arrests of Chinese citizens without solid evidence, and urged the Zambian authorities to ensure the legal rights of the Chinese citizens and release those who are innocent as soon as possible.