REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BEIJING -- China has deported a Swedish human rights activist detained earlier this month for allegedly posing a threat to national security, the government said Tuesday.

Peter Dahlin, of the Chinese Urgent Action Working Group, disappeared on January 4 as he prepared to board a flight to Thailand and appears to have been caught up in a crackdown on human rights lawyers.

Dahlin's group has said it offered training to lawyers who have tried to use the tightly controlled judiciary to redress apparent government abuses.

State broadcaster CCTV last week aired footage of a dazed and harried-looking Dahlin apologising to China for his alleged actions, which officials said had "threatened state security".

"We have deported him," Hua Chunying, a foreign ministry spokeswoman, told a regular press briefing on Tuesday.

Michael Caster, a US-based spokesman for Dahlin's group, said on Twitter that the Swede had been "expelled from China".

Dahlin's Chinese girlfriend, who had also been held, "is no longer in detention but, contrary to some assertions, has not left the country," he added.

The Swede's detention came as China considers a new law to control the activities of foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which has raised widespread concern among overseas groups.

The ruling Communist Party has in recent months stepped up its scrutiny of NGOs, while state media has warned of "hostile foreign forces" said to be using them to foment revolution.

Authorities also launched a sweeping crackdown on human rights attorneys in July, detaining more than 130 legal staff across the country. This month at least 10 were formally arrested on charges related to "state subversion" after being held in secret for six months.

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