A camera team from the German television station RTL was detained Wednesday after filming an illegal mine in southern China, DPA reported.
Local police and miners detained the team at the operation in Guotian in Guangdong province, RTL correspondent Pi Schroers said by telephone.
She and her German and Chinese colleagues were released from the Guotian police station after four hours.
The mine, on which Chinese media have already reported, produces rare-earth minerals, the highly sought and expensive raw materials used in high-tech products.
Miners first blocked the TV crew's way with construction equipment and detained its members with the help of police, Schroers said. She was told to hand over her film but she refused, she said.