[JURIST] Chinese Foreign Ministry [official website] spokesperson Qin Gang blasted [statement, in Chinese] a new human rights report released by the US Department of State [official website] as being inconsistent with "basic facts" Saturday, characterizing it as unsubstantiated and slanderous to the human rights conditions in China [JURIST news archive]. The annual report [text, PDF] on US efforts to support human rights and democracy abroad was delivered to Congress Thursday in compliance with the FY 03 Foreign Relations Authorization Act [backgrounder]. The report criticized the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) for suppressing the human rights of those "perceived to threaten the legitimacy or authority" of the party; Qin responded that China has received international acclaim for its protection of human rights, freedom of expression and fundamental liberties of all of its various ethnic groups. Qin noted that there is a consensus amongst the international community that the "United States is not in the position to depict itself as a human rights watchdog," and that the United States should examine its own human rights practices, and refrain from applying double or multiple standards as a pretext to intervene in the domestic affairs of states. Qin stated that doing so would remove the barriers between serious interstate dialogue concerning human rights.

The report, the fifth annual submission, is intended to complement the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices [text, 2006 reports], which highlight and publicize foreign rights abuses. Since 1998, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has published a responsive annual report titled the Human Rights Record of the United States [text, 2006 report]. AP has more. Xinhua has local coverage.