Shanghai consultants admit wrongdoing over obtaining information

Peter Humphrey and his wife, Yu Yingzeng, two risk consultants detained in Shanghai since July, have confessed to illegally obtaining information on the mainland, the Ministry of Public Security said yesterday.

The couple were part of a broader information crackdown that analysts fear will hurt transparency and multinationals' operations. The Shanghai government said yesterday that police had arrested 126 people in the city this month for "illegally gathering information", of whom 35 had been charged.

The ministry also said that the authorities had shut down ChinaWhys, a Shanghai-based risk consultancy founded by Humphrey, a British citizen, and Yu, a US citizen. It was the first case in recent years of mainland authorities shuttering a foreign firm for conducting illegal investigations, it said.

The ministry called ChinaWhys an illegal operation, even though it has operated for several years serving clients such as GlaxoSmithKline.

It said the couple were formally arrested on August 16.

"I have sometimes resorted to illegal means to obtain information. I deeply regret this and apologise to the Chinese government," Humphrey said in Putonghua on state broadcaster CCTV.