(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-01 08:37

CHANGSHA -- Police have arrested two men in the central China province of Hunan for posting explicit nude photographs of Hong Kong celebrities on the Internet.

The men, surnamed Xiao and Wang, were sentenced to five days detention for circulating the photos of entertainer Edison Chen and female celebrities.

On Tuesday, police at Changshan Public Security Bureau found more than 10 graphic images in an on-line post. The writer of the post, which drew more than 100,000 clicks, proclaimed he had many more such photos.

Police said Xiao copied more than 400 photos from Wang on February 10, and more than 300 were confirmed to be pornographic. Around 2:00 a.m. the next morning, Xiao allegedly posted some of the photos on the Internet.

Xiao invited friends to his home to view the photos on his computer on February 20 and 25, police said.

According to China's regulations on administrative penalties for public security, those found producing, duplicating, selling or circulating pornographic products even without the purpose of making profit can face detention of up to 15 days.

Previously, 11 people had been under police detention either for producing and selling the photos or for posting copies on the Internet.

Ten people who allegedly produced, sold or bought computer discs of the photos were arrested in the southern city of Shenzhen last week, when police confiscated about 250 discs and six computers used to produce the discs.

An 11th suspect, surnamed Yu, was detained for 10 days in Zhoushan City, Zhejiang Province, on February 22. He was found to have downloaded 260 photos on his computer and uploaded the photos to the album of his QQ space to attract the attention of other Internet users.

Last month, photos of the Canadian-born Chen caught in sexual acts with Hong Kong starlets surfaced on the Internet.

Chinese Internet search engine Baidu.com had been asked by a Beijing Internet self-discipline organization to make a public apology for allowing the spreading of the photos last week.