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China expels two journalists for spying

BEIJING: China expelled two Hong Kong reporters on Friday after charging the pair with collecting military secrets illegally, the Xinhua news agency said.

Reporter Wat Wing-yin and photographer Tse Qu Yingyan, of Hong Kong's outspoken Next magazine, entered the coastal area of eastern Fujian province on August 18 disguised as tourists to obtain military secrets "surreptitiously", Xinhua said.

They were spotted by local residents and reported to the State Security Department in Fujian on August 20, it said.

It said they confessed they had been sent by their magazine to take photos of military manoeuvres in the coastal areas of Fujian.

They said they knew their acts were illegal and confessed they were guilty of collecting military secrets illegally, Xinhua said. They expressed remorse, it said.-Reuter