By Shan Juan (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-08-17 07:09

In China, Lu Qi, a 68-year-old American, is known for his efforts to collect garbage and encourage civic-mindedness among the people of Wuhan.

Back in US, he is wanted on several felony charges.

Lu, who teaches English at a Wuhan university, is an old China hand who speaks fluent Chinese and is married to a local calligrapher. He first settled in China in 2004.

Lu's fame is not the result of his teaching prowess. Rather, his efforts to clean the local streets have inspired many and even made him the subject to a CCTV report.

His case started when an unidentified netizen noted a striking resemblance between Lu and an American criminal suspect named Kenneth Lee Rothey: They bore the same name, date and place of birth and level of Chinese language proficiency.

"Yes, I am Kenneth Lee Rothey, the man on Interpol's red notice list," Lu, the retired immigration attorney, said. "But I am innocent."

Lu was indicted in March on charges of forgery, money laundering and helping Chinese nationals enter the US though visa fraud, according to the Interpol website.

The Interpol photos, Lu said, were in fact cropped from Chinese newspapers. "Somebody has been stalking and attacking me for a long time," he said.

"I am not afraid to confront the charges. It's not my duty to prove my innocence in accordance with US laws," the Southern Weekend quoted him as saying.

The US government is reportedly considering seeking extradition, though the China and the US do not have an extradition treaty.

"The Chinese government would not expel me just because of rumors and speculation," Lu said. "So far no Chinese police have approached me".

However, some netizens now bash him on Internet forums. He was also suddenly barred from serving as a Beijing Olympic torchbearer.

Wu Heping, spokesman of the Ministry of Public Security, on Wednesday confirmed some of Lu's comments. "We haven't heard anything about the case and no one has approached us about it".

A source with the ministry told China Daily yesterday that the issue has been under discussion. Interpol's role is to assist the national police force in identifying or locating suspects, but will not arrest them.

(China Daily 08/17/2007 page5)