Chinese man held by police in Malaysia 'after posing naked for photos on beach'
PUBLISHED : Friday, 23 October, 2015, 12:22pm
UPDATED : Friday, 23 October, 2015, 1:07pm
Zhuang Pinghui in Beijing
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The authorities asked for help from Interpol to identify the men involved, according to the China News Service. Photos: SCMP Pictures
A Chinese man has been held by the police for allegedly posing naked for photographs on a beach in Malaysia, according to a news agency report.
The man, a diving coach in his 30s working in China, was among a group of men posing nude near Semporna, the China News Service reported.
Police said the photographs have been widely shared on the internet and social media.
Unnamed local officials were quoted as saying that nudity was “not civilised” and adversely affected the image of the popular tourist destination.
Four foreign tourists from Britain, the Netherlands and Canada who posed naked on Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia earlier this year were fined by the authorities in June and the case attracted international headlines.
The local authorities in Semporna in predominately-Muslim Malaysia received complaints last week about the pictures on the beach and asked for help from the international police organisation Interpol to trace the identities of the men, according to the report.
The Chinese man had been helping to organise tours in the area, particularly diving trips, the news agency said.
He will be detained until Sunday to help with the police investigation, the article added.
The media in China regularly reports on the rude or insensitive behaviour of some Chinese tourists overseas.
There was an outcry on the internet two years ago after a Chinese tourist carved “Ding Minhao paid a visit here” on a 3,000-year-old wall at a temple in Luxor in Egypt.
China’s tourism authorities compile a blacklist of travellers deemed to have acted particularly badly, which is circulated to travel agencies and airlines.
