China: Norway violates rights of Chinese scholar

OSLO - China on Tuesday accused Norway of violating the rights of a Chinese scholar, who was ordered by Norwegian police to leave Norway before Jan 23.

Ma Qiang, a political counselor at the Chinese embassy in Norway, took the issue up with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday about the Norwegian police decision to send the Chinese PhD student working at the University of Agder.

After his visit to the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, Ma told Xinhua that he asked the Norwegian government to take tangible measures to protect the academic freedom and the rights and interests of the Chinese scholar and to avoid similar cases in the future.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Chinese embassy in Norway were highly concerned over the issue and believed the action taken by Norwegian police against the Chinese PhD student, who had been working on a wind power project at the university for two years, was totally baseless and unreasonable, said Ma.

"It is an infringement on the scholar's rights, which has a damaging affect on Norway's reputation and image in the international academic world and a negative impact on the bilateral ties between China and Norway," said Ma.

The University of Agder's management also saw no grounds for the expulsion of the Chinese student, and his academic supervisor was likewise surprised by the police decision.

Norwegian broadcasting company NRK said Norwegian authorities made the move out of fear that the student's expertise could be used "for military purposes in other countries."

Both the professor and the Chinese student have denied the allegations.