Ministry defends progress on human rights

China objects to other countries' interference in its internal affairs and the violation of China's judicial sovereignty by making an issue of human rights, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.

In response to US Ambassador Gary Locke's latest criticism of China's human rights record,spokesman Liu Weimin said the progress of China's human rights is obvious to all.

According to AFP, Locke claimed on Monday that China's human rights record was deteriorating.

"The human rights climate has always ebbed and flowed in China, up and down, but we seem to be in a down period and it's getting worse," Locke told The Charlie Rose Show on US public television late on Monday, said AFP.

Locke claimed that the Chinese government had detained dissidents, lawyers and other perceived critics since the onset of unrest in North Africa and West Asia which toppled leaders in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia last year, according to AFP.

Liu told reporters at a regular news conference what Locke said is "not the truth".

"China has attached great importance to promoting and safeguarding the basic rights of the Chinese people, including the freedom of belief and speech," Liu said.

Liu cited a survey that shows 86 percent of the Chinese people are satisfied with the country's development.

Liu admitted that China faces more challenges in its social development, which is natural as in a country with a population of 1.3 billion and that has spent only 30 years in finishing a path that took the Western world 300 years.

Liu said China is working very hard to solve such problems and is willing to enhance dialogue and cooperation with the international community on human rights.

"But we object to interference in China's internal affairs and the violation of China's judicial sovereignty by making an issue of human rights," said Liu.

"As for some individuals that have been punished by law, I don't think it means their freedom of speech or religion is suppressed, but because they violated Chinese laws," said Liu.

Locke was back in Washington for consultations ahead of a visit by Vice-President Xi Jinping, according to AFP.