Beijing: Almost 20,000 uniformed police held a mass ceremony on Tuesday in Guangzhou, the mainland Chinese capital closest to Hong Kong, apparently sparking nerves at the White House.

An oath taking ceremony for the 70th anniversary of communist China's founding was held on Tuesday in Guangdong at a police training centre.

Photographs of the oath taking ceremony involving special police, regular police and traffic police to mark the 70th anniversary of communist China's founding were contained in a report on the Guangdong police website.

Loading

Bloomberg on Wednesday reported an unnamed White House official had told US reporters that "Chinese military or armed police had gathered at the border with Hong Kong."