China says Norway 'infringed' on expelled scholar's freedom

Beijing today sharply criticised Norway over the expulsion of a Chinese academic, in the latest diplomatic fracas to roil relations between the two countries.
Last month the Norwegian government expelled from the country two staff from the University of Agder, the institution's director Tor Aagedal told AFP, one of them a Chinese mathematician.
Reports said Oslo took the decision over concerns their work could have military applications.
Beijing has protested to Oslo over the case, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Wednesday, calling the accusation "baseless".
It "infringed upon the basic rights of the relevant Chinese scholar" and "damaged the academic image of Norway", he told reporters at a regular briefing, urging Oslo to "protect the rights and interests as well as the academic freedom of the relevant Chinese scholar".

China's own universities are run by the ruling Communist party, which tightly controls discussions of topics it construes as a potential threat to its grip on power and has recently stressed the importance of ideology in higher education.

The dispute is the latest episode in a long-running diplomatic feud that began in 2010 when Beijing halted all high-level contact with Norway after the Nobel Peace Prize was given to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.
The Nobel committee is independent of the government, although its members are chosen by the Norwegian parliament.
Nonetheless whole salmon imports from Norway have since been banned, supposedly on safety grounds, Norwegian citizens have been excluded from a 72-hour transit visa scheme, and Oslo's ambassador -- in post since 2007 -- has reportedly been unable to return home for fear that if he leaves his successor will not be granted a visa.

Norwegian attempts to normalise political ties with the world's second largest economy have proved fruitless, as China wants to set an example to deter other countries.
Aagedal told AFP that the Chinese mathematician worked "in a broad range of fields" but his research had "no military purpose", adding that the other staff member was from "a European country" and specialised in wind power.
"They left immediately," he said. "We've never been involved in such a case before."
Police had told the university last summer that an investigation was underway, he added.