The recent alleged cases of police abuse involving Chinese nationals are not the factor behind the drop in tourist arrivals from the republic, said Tourism Minister Dr Leo Michael Toyad today.

"There are more reasons the Chinese are not coming," he was quoted as saying by Bernama , without specifying what these were.

The arrival of tourists from China has been on the decline since February and immediate measures must be taken to address the matter, he added.

In view of this, Toyad said his ministry will introduce more products to attract tourists from China.

They now have more choices, more attractive and interesting destinations elsewhere. The ministry will work hard and take some measures, among that is to introduce more products to attract China tourists," he added.

Successful mission

According to him, the ministry remained optimistic about the tourist arrivals from the republic.

"I don't foresee any drop in the future, especially after the incidents involving the Chinese nationals, he added.

The mission of Home Minister Azmi Khalid and his deputy Tan Chai Ho to reassure the Chinese that Malaysia continued to welcome Chinese tourists and businessmen had been very successful, he said.

As China is a very important market to boost the country's tourism industry, Toyad hoped to attract more Chinese tourists as the ministry steps up public relations activities in China.

Over the past month, numerous cases involving Chinese nationals being allegedly abused by the police here had surfaced.

The latest incident, which created a huge uproar, was a video-clip depicting a woman, believed to be of Chinese origin, being forced to do ear squats in the nude at a police station.

The case had received widespread media coverage both domestically and internationally, especially in China.

To mend ties, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had instructed Azmi to got to Beijing and explain the matter. He also set-up an independent commission to probe the incident.