China suggests US heed own human rights

Chinese government said the latest US criticism of its human rights situation is "groundless and slanderous", and suggested US focus more on human rights problems within its own boundary.

US should stop its erroneous activities of interfering in other countries' domestic affairs with the excuse of human rights, a spokesman of China's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said the China section of the US State Department's annual report on US efforts to support democracy worldwide "turned a blind eye to solid facts, attacking irresponsibly China's human rights."

"We repudiate the human righs report of the US Department of State, which ignores basic facts, slanders and attacks China's human rights situation," he said.

"We express our strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition," Qin said in a statement posted on the Ministry's Web site. "A lot of efforts have been made to expand democracy and reinforce the rule of law in China. Human rights in China have made new progress constantly."

The international community has spoken highly of China's human rights practice, the spokesman said.

The US report, released Thursday, alleged that China had continued to deny citizens basic election rights, and law enforcement authorities neglected and suppressed the legitimate rights of its citizens. It also alleged there were an increased number of cases in which officials harassed reporters, activists and defense lawyers seeking to exercise their lawful rights.

China said the US should pay more attention to its domestic human rights situation.

"It's the consensus of the international community that the U.S is not qualified to be the 'human rights guard' at all," Qin said. "We strongly advise it to focus more on human rights problems within its own boundary and stop its erroneous activities of interfering in other countries' domestic affairs with the excuse of human rights."

In March, China issued a report in response to US criticism of its human rights in which it accused Washington of trampling on Iraq's sovereignty. It also said the US used its campaign against terrorism as an excuse to torture people around the world and had seriously violated the rights of its own citizens.