TAIPEI, Oct 10 (Reuters) - 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.

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, in a statement to Reuters

on Thursday, said the four employees had been detained in

China's Zhengzhou, home to a major Foxconn plant assembling

Apple's ( AAPL ) iPhones, on suspicion of the equivalent of

"breach of trust".

"The circumstances of this case are quite strange," it said.

The case may be connected to corruption and abuse of power

by a small number of Chinese security officials, the council

added, without giving details.

Foxconn declined to comment.

The Mainland Affairs Council said Foxconn had stated the

company had "suffered no losses and that the four employees had

done nothing to harm the company's interests".

"This has seriously damaged the confidence of companies. We

call on relevant departments on the other side of the Taiwan

Strait to investigate and deal with it as soon as possible."

Calls to China's Taiwan Affairs Office seeking comment

outside of office hours went unanswered.

In June, Taiwan's government raised its travel warning for

China, telling its citizens not to go unless absolutely

necessary, following a threat from Beijing to execute those

deemed "diehard" Taiwan independence supporters.

China claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own

territory, over the strong objections of the government in

Taipei.

Taiwanese businesses have invested billions of dollars in

China since the country began landmark economic reforms four

decades ago, drawn by a common culture and language and much

lower costs.