Hong Kong, Sep 9 (DPA) A row over the beating by Chinese police of three Hong Kong journalists covering riots in the western Chinese city of Urumqi deepened Wednesday after officials accused the journalists of inciting protestors.

Xinjiang provincial information director Hou Hanmin said the reporter and cameramen beaten and detained Friday had incited crowds of demonstrators by making hand gestures.

She also claimed the journalists refused repeated requests to show their identification and accused other media outlets of 'irresponsible' reporting of the incident.

Hanmin's comments defending the police were rejected by the TV stations the journalists worked for, with Hong Kong's TV station TVB saying Wednesday the remarks were 'false and one-sided'.

The three journalists, all of whom had press accreditation, claim they were hit with batons, kicked and detained for hours while covering the ethnic unrest in Urumqi where ethnic Han Chinese staged protests after a series of needle attacks blamed on the Muslim Uighur minority.