More than 20 Chinese acrobats have complained to Las Vegas authorities in the US that they were forced to work for China Star Company against their will and given poor food and payment.

The Las Vegas district court will hear the case on Friday, local media reports said.

Yin Lina, a "victim" herself, is acting as the interpreter for the acrobats because most of them cannot speak English properly.

The company managers have seized their passports, too, she alleged.

Three suspects, Li Youzhi, 38, Yang Shen, 21, and Hu Jun, 43, have been arrested. They appeared in the district court on Tuesday.

The authorities have shifted the acrobats to the Clark County Department of Family Service to ensure them proper food and a safe place to stay.

All the acrobats are from Zhengzhou in Central China's Henan Province, and left for the US in September last year.

Tong Xuejun, of the Consulate-General of China in Las Vegas, said the case is being treated with priority, and consulate officials visited the acrobats as soon as police informed them on July 5.

"We have met with the US authorities and urged them to deal with the case judicially," Beijing-based Global Times quoted Tong as saying.

An AP report on Monday quoted China Star managers not accused by the acrobats as saying the "allegations were false".

The acrobats were "seeking a way to stay in the US" even after the expiry of their visas later this month.

Daniel Chau, a partner of the company, said the troupe might have misunderstood the payment system.

They can get "up to US$1,000 a month after they return" home, he said.

(China Daily July 12, 2007)