China has accused Taiwanese authorities of “persecution” after four members of a pro-Beijing political party were detained in connection with a spying case.

Police in Taiwan arrested Wang Ping-chung, a prominent media personality, along with three colleagues from the pro-unification New Party on Tuesday.

The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office released a statement saying that Mr Wang and other people of interest were being investigated on suspicion of violating the National Security Act.

Taipei prosecutor Lin Chun-ting, who is leading the investigation, is also in charge of the probe into Zhou Hongxu, a Chinese student convicted in September for trying to obtain classified information and recruiting people to a spy network.

According to the Taipei Times, Mr Wang was allegedly friends with Mr Zhou and played a key role in introducing him to Taiwanese government officials.