Home Minister Azmi Khalid said his government would await a formal inquiry into the alleged humiliation of a Chinese woman at the hands of Malaysian police before deciding if it needed to apologize for the incident.

"We're very sad that in the last few months we have been receiving very bad news of things happening to citizens from China," Azmi told a briefing in the Chinese capital.

"All this makes the people of Malaysia as a whole very, very angry."

The mistreatment of Chinese citizens in Malaysia involves not just the alleged police abuse, caught on video-tape, but also criminal acts, according to Azmi.

"There was a case of murder, there was a case of rape. This was outside our control, actually, but we apologize because we don't like to see this happen," he said.

"But for those done by government agencies, we are still investigating, and we will not know until the inquiry is completed."

The video clip, which has caused outrage in China, shows a woman believed to be a Chinese national being forced to strip and perform squats in front of a Malaysian policewoman.

The squats, according to Azmi, are a routine procedure if a person is suspected of hiding drugs.

An independent Malaysian commission has been charged with looking into the incident and filing a report before the end of February, and any formal apology will have to wait until then, Azmi said.

China has demanded that Malaysia carry out an investigation as soon as possible and punish the perpetrators, foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular briefing Tuesday.

"We hope the Malaysian side will take effective measures to avoid the recurrence of similar incidents in the future and to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens who work, study and travel in Malaysia," he said.

The incidents have emerged at an awkward time for Malaysia, with visitor numbers from China plummeting.

In the period from January to September this year, 229,000 Chinese visited Malaysia, a drop of more than 45 percent.

Malaysian officials traveling with Azmi said the drop in tourist numbers was triggered partly by tsunami fears and the opening of more alternative travel destinations for the Chinese.

Azmi emphasized visitors from China were welcome in Malaysia.

"Malaysia regards China as a very, very important country," Azmi said. "Malaysia has always welcomed the people of China to visit."

However Azmi warned Chinese against trusting unofficial agencies that promise employment in Malaysia.

"If there are syndicates offering all kinds of jobs to the people of China, please do not believe them," he said.

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