Tokyo - The Japanese government plans to file a protest with China if a report about police brutality against two Japanese journalists was confirmed, media reports said Tuesday.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said Japan would "protest strongly" if the attack against the journalists was verified.

A Japanese reporter from the Nippon Television Network Corp and a photographer from the Chunichi Shimbun newspaper were detained and beaten by paramilitary police late Monday as they were covering an attack on police by two Uighur men in Xinjiang in north-western China that left 16 officers dead, the two news organizations said.

Both suffered minor injuries when they were taken inside a nearby hotel and beaten, the reports said.

Shortly after Machimura made his comments, Chinese paramilitary police executives apologized to the journalists, the Jiji Press news agency said.

Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda announced plans to visit China to attend Friday's opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games.

Fukuda was expected to hold talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao during his trip. (dpa)