Deported Chinese woman was journalist, not spy: Govt

The government today said a Chinese woman, reportedly deported last month, was a journalist and there was no evidence about her being a spy as some media reports had suggested.

"There was indeed a case of a Chinese lady who had met some of these (Naga) leaders. But on investigation, we were not able to establish that she was a spy," home minister P Chidambaram said in reply to supplementaries.

"She claimed to be a journalist. There was no evidence to point that she was a spy," he said, adding, "I am not aware of a case where the head of the Chinese spy bureau met with some of these leaders."

His response came when BJP member Shreegopal Vyas wanted to know as to what information the country got from her before she was sent back.

Reports in the media had said that a Chinese national, Wang Qing, suspected to be operating as a spy in the guise of a TV reporter, was quietly deported by India last month.

The woman had posed as a TV reporter to meet Naga leader T Muivah in a government guest house in Delhi, the report had said, adding that the woman had visited the north eastern states on more than one occasion in the past.

The report had also said India issued a demarche to Beijing last month after deporting Wang on January 21 and expressing "displeasure" to China the next day.