Chinese Seize American’s Belongings

Chinese officials have confiscated the possessions of Edward McNally, an American who taught law at Peking University and allegedly entered restricted areas with a New York Times reporter, a U.S. official said Tuesday.

McNally, a former U.S. Justice Department policy adviser, left China for a vacation shortly before the reporter, John Burns, was detained July 17. McNally is believed to still be somewhere in Asia, said the U.S. official, who requested anonymity.

Security officials seized the articles McNally left behind at the university apartment he had been given as a visiting professor, the U.S. official said. The officials, asked about the belongings, would not comment.

Burns, 41, was detained July 17 and then expelled July 23 for allegedly entering a closed area in central China and taking photographs of a military zone. No charges were filed against him.