Shen Guofang, assistant foreign minister, met Malaysia's Interior Minister Azmi Khalid in Beijing yesterday, and urged his government to continue making thorough investigations into the assault and humiliation of Chinese citizens in Malaysia.

Khalid said the Malaysian government values its relations with China and expressed regret and apology for the cases of assault against Chinese citizens.

He said his government attaches great importance to the disposal of the cases, and that under the instruction of Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, a special investigation committee has been set up and is making earnest investigations into them.

He added that Malaysia will inform China of the final result as soon as possible and take effective measures to avoid recurrence of such cases in future.

Shen said the Chinese government values the protection of its citizens' dignity and safety and has deep concerns about what he described as successive cases of humiliation and assault.

The government hopes Malaysia fully realizes the urgency and graveness of the matter, he said, and urges stern punishment of offenders and effective measures to prevent any reoccurrences.

Officials from the Ministry of Public Security and National Tourism Administration also met with Khalid on separate occasions on Monday.

(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2005)