Norway's expulsion violates rights of Chinese scholar

China on Tuesday accused Norway of violating the rights of a Chinese scholar who was ordered by Norwegian police to leave the country last month.

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's decision on the Chinese PhD student.

The PhD student had been working at a wind-power project at the University of Agder for the last 2 years. In January, Norwegian police ordered the unnamed Chinese student to leave the country before Jan 23.

The police also requested his university supervisor, a European professor at the university, to leave the country as well saying they feared the duo's expertise could be used "for military purposes in other countries"; Norwegian broadcasting company NRK reported.

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

"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.

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