Four employees of the Taiwanese contract manufacturer that makes the Apple iPhone are in detention in China, Taiwanese authorities said Friday.

Chinese police have detained four workers of the Taiwanese iPhone maker, Foxconn, in circumstances Taipei has described as "strange". The employees were arrested in Zhengzhou in Henan province on "breach of trust" charges, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement.

Four employees of Taiwan's Foxconn , the world's largest iPhone assembler, have been detained in China under "quite strange" circumstances, Taiwan's government said.