The Chinese government has rejected a U.S. report critical of increasing number of human rights violations in that country.
The criticisms were made in the 2009 Annual Report on Human Rights released by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Thursday. It also raises concern over the growing antisemitism worldwide and discrimination of Muslims in Europe.
China hit back within a day, as its State Council, or Cabinet, issued its own report on alleged U.S. human rights violations.
"As in previous years, the (US) reports are full of accusations of the human rights situation in more than 190 countries and regions including China, but turn a blind eye to, or dodge and even cover up, rampant human rights abuses on its own territory," China's official news agency Xinhua quoted the State Council as saying Friday.
The State Council said the United States had used the rights issue as a "political instrument to interfere in other countries' internal affairs, defame other nations' image and seek its own strategic interests."
Incidentally, the U.S. Annual Report on human rights for 194 countries focus on countries such as North Korea, Iran, Venezuela and Cuba, the leading critics of the United States.
The report has cited the continued repression of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, which witnessed deadly clashes last year between majority Han Chinese and local Muslim Uighurs. It was also critical of the clampdown on the Falungong, a spiritual movement loosely based on Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian philosophies.
Beijing holds U.S. indirectly responsible for the "serious human rights disaster" world-wide, caused by the global financial slowdown and "fueled by the US sub-prime mortgage crisis."
According to the State Council, workers' rights had been "seriously violated" in the United States, citing press reports about unpaid overtime and wage cuts, and lamented the increasing number of people without health insurance.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.