Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said today that he and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had not known until recently that the woman detainee in the nude ear squat video was Malaysian and not a Chinese national.

He nevertheless said that the government was still concerned over the police abuse case that triggered a protest from China, despite the female "victim" in question being revealed as a Malaysian.

"Although the detainee is a Malaysian citizen, the government still feels that whatever that can be regarded as insulting a detainee is not appropriate, unless it is guided by laws and regulations," said Najib.

Malaysia had to deal with China's anger after the release of a video clip which showed a naked woman, believed to be a Chinese national, forced to perform squats in the nude while in police custody.

The footage, captured on a mobile phone, emerged after allegations by several Chinese women that ethnic Chinese were being profiled and badly treated by police.

But Najib said he and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi believe that the case - which has put Malaysia's much-criticised police force under the microscope - remained worrisome regardless of the race factor.

"This is not a racial issue as from the start, we had expressed our concern over the issue," he was quoted as saying by the state Bernama news agency.

Isolated incidents

The video scandal, which emerged last month, was the latest in a series of reports of shabby treatment of Chinese nationals and tourists in Malaysia.

Malaysia was forced to issue an apology to China which had lodged a protest, and sent its home minister to Beijing with the message that Chinese tourists were welcome.

Abdullah also met yesterday with his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao, who has been in Malaysia this week to attend two regional summits.

"In the recent case that has been made into a big issue, our prime minister has explained very clearly to the Chinese this does not affect a Chinese national," Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said yesterday.

Syed Hamid said bilateral relations would not be affected by such isolated incidents, describing the ties as a "matured relationship."

"Our message is that it is not in the habit of Malaysians to mistreat any of our visitors to our country. We welcome them to our country. I think the Chinese understood our position very well," he said.

The government has launched an inquiry into the incident, the results of which are expected to be known by Jan 15.