China denied on Monday that foreign nationals are under threat of arbitrary detention, following a newspaper report that
Beijing had warned
Washington it might arrest Americans in China.
The Chinese foreign ministry said it was Washington that was mistreating foreign citizens, accusing the
United States of "outright political repression" of Chinese academics.
"The U.S. claim that foreign nationals in
China are under threat of arbitrary detention is playing the victim and confusing black and white," Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a regular news briefing.