The Premier introduced a group of potential Chinese investors yesterday as evidence the four Uighurs have not affected international relations with the Asian economic giant.

However, he also admitted he had "heard nothing" from the Chinese Government on the resettlement of the former Guantánamo detainees in Bermuda.

Dr. Brown presented two businessmen from China and two Chinese American women at a press conference, saying they were the latest participants in the Tourism Department's China Initiative.

"You will recall we have been welcoming small groups of Chinese business people to Bermuda over the past two-and-a-half years," he said.

"Today I have Miss Maria Xia who will introduce these friends who have come to visit both from motherland China and the Chinese American community in Southern California. I thought it would be a very timely exercise to introduce these visitors so you can see we are continuing our efforts with respect to China."

Among the visitors was Yuandan Zhou, a construction businessman from Xi'an, who is "looking at the buildings and construction in Bermuda, and also sightseeing".

Also present was jeweller Chunxi Yao; May Chang, a real estate developer and hotelier; and Ying Ying Huang, chief nurse at Santa Anita Convalescent Hospital in Temple City, California.

Miss Xia, a partner in Asia Business Connect, which assists Chinese businesses wanting to invest in the West, said the visit would "bring possible investors coming to Bermuda in the near future".

The Premier did not comment on the current state of Bermuda-China relations, except to say "we've heard nothing", when asked what position China had taken on the four Uighurs being resettled in Bermuda.

China has previously called for the extradition of 17 Uighur Guantánamo detainees released to Palau, calling them "terrorist suspects".

However, US officials and human rights groups say this would result in detainment and possible death.

US Congressman Bill Delahunt, chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organisations, Human Rights and Oversight, expressed similar concerns about the Bermuda Uighurs to the Island's media at the weekend.

"Many of their community have been subjected to torture and execution. That to me is the overriding concern," he said.

Premier Ewart Brown has also stressed the humanitarian aspects of granting the men asylum, while Governor Sir Richard Gozney has said the Uighurs "cannot and should not go back" to China.

Abdullah Abdulqadir, Khalil Mamut, Ablikim Turahun and Salahidin Abdulahat are ethnic Uighurs who fled Western China.

They are part of a Turkic Muslim minority in the province of Xinjiang, where China is said to carry out torture, detentions and summary executions, claiming the Uighurs are spearheading an Islamic separatist movement.