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Rights: U.S. report angers China

Beijing April 1. Lashing out at the ``double standards'' of the United States in judging the human rights situation of other nations, China has urged Washington to stop interfering in others' affairs.

``We would like to take this opportunity to ask the United States not to interfere in other people's internal affairs, not to have double standards and not lose the trust of the people around the world,'' the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, said today. Commenting on the U.S. State Department's annual Human Rights Report, Mr. Liu noted that the report has disregarded the achievements made by China in the field of human rights. ``We express our strong dissatisfaction and opposition to the U.S. report,'' he said while claiming that the human rights situation in China has greatly improved over the years, and that this is a fact recognised by the international community.

The State Department said China's ``human rights record throughout the year remained poor, and the Government continued to commit numerous and serious abuses.'' It also expressed concerns that Beijing would try to exploit the U.S. anti-terror campaign as a ruse to crack down on Muslim separatist dissidents in north-western Xinjiang province it regards as ``terrorists.''

The report also rapped the ``axis of evil'' foes Iraq, Iran and North Korea, for what it said were gross abuses of human rights. China is no stranger to U.S. criticism on human rights. — AFP

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