China rejects terrorism threat on star-rated hotels
(Kyodo) _ A threat of terrorist attacks on luxury hotels ahead of U.S. President George W. Bush's China visit next week was fabricated by a foreigner, a government spokesman said Thursday.
The U.S. Embassy, which issued a written warning to its citizens in China on Wednesday, also issued a retraction on Thursday.

A foreigner used anonymous means to spread the threat, and Chinese police never warned any of the four-star and five-star hotels said to be threatened, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao.

"We noticed the relevant news and with the related public security departments immediately checked into it," Liu said at a press briefing. "The so-called remark that 'four-star and five-star hotels will suffer an attack' was announced by some foreigner through anonymous means.

"Hotels in China are safe," he said, adding that the Foreign Ministry had the "most reliable information" of any source.