Beijing late Friday rejected Washington's criticism of deteriorating human rights situation in China following the annual rights dialogue between the two countries.The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement that people in China are enjoying unprecedented rights but added that they must be exercised with respect to the laws of the land.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry made the remarks after acting Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Uzra Zeya, criticized China for violating the international rights of its people especially minorities in the country.
The acting assistant, who led the U.S. delegation at the annual human rights dialogue in the Chinese city of Kunming, said , "We conveyed deep concern about attempts to control and silence activists by targeting family members and associates of the activists."
"This is a worrisome trend, and one which we have raised at senior levels with the Chinese government," said Uzra Zeya, adding the talks fell short of Washington's expectations.
Last week, international human rights watch dog, Human Rights Watch, urged the Washington government to press Beijing to change policies and practices that violate rights in the country.
"The US government should press the Chinese government to adopt concrete and clear benchmarks, and evaluate the progress in subsequent dialogues," said Human Rights Watch. "Without these benchmarks, the human rights dialogue risks serving as a perfunctory diplomatic exercise, rather than a genuinely useful advocacy tool."
Beijing and Washington had launched the rights talks in the wake of Beijing's 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and last week's rights dialogue was the first since Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang, assumed power.
