China denies US journalists captured by N.Korea on its territory

China Thursday denied that two US television reporters jailed for illegally entering North Korea were caught on Chinese soil and then dragged into the Stalinist state, as the pair said this week.

"According to the understanding of competent authorities, they did not find the situation as you described it," foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters in response to a question on the comments by the journalists.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to 12 years hard labor by North Korea before being freed as part of a diplomatic mission spearheaded by former US president Bill Clinton last month.