China slams U.S. human rights report, voicing strong opposition

BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- China on Wednesday voiced strong opposition to the U.S. State Department's 2007 Human Rights Report that criticizes China's human rights conditions.

"China is willing to have dialogue and exchange of views with other countries on the human rights issue", said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang. However, the spokesman stressed that the country sternly opposes to any intervention to the internal affairs of other countries in excuse of human rights concern.

Qin said, responding to the reporters' question on the U.S. "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2007", that China respects and safeguards human rights and the Chinese government adheres to a policy that calls for "putting people first," and has made great efforts to promote democracy and improve the human rights conditions under the rule of law.

"The efforts and remarkable achievement China has made on the issue have already been widely recognized by the international community", the spokesman stressed.

Qin said the U.S. annual report "again ignored basic facts", and willfully distorted and groundlessly criticized China's ethnic, religious and legal systems, which was "quite mistaken" and will never succeed in its attempt.

"We suggest the U.S. government to stop depicting itself as a human rights watchdog and focus more on its own human rights problems", Qin said, demanding the U.S. to stop its wrongdoing such as issuing the so-called country reports on human rights practices, playing double standard on the human rights issue and interfere with the internal affairs of other countries.