BEIJING, Feb 15 (Reuters) - China said on Thursday that Western countries thinking of pushing a U.N. resolution critical of its human rights record should "draw lessons from past failures" and abandon plans to censure Beijing.
It also slammed the nomination of the Falun Gong movement for the Nobel Peace Prize this year as a "major mockery" of the award.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao indicated China thought it could again ward off censure at the annual meeting of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, which opens on March 19.
"Nine times since 1990, some Western countries have introduced anti-China resolutions... and as a matter of course, these have ended in failure," Zhu told a news conference.
China's human rights record has come under increasing criticism this year as outsiders recoil at harsh treatment of Falun Gong protesters, rights groups allege widespread use of torture and media watchdogs decry curbs on the Internet.
This week alone, U.S. Senators introduced a resolution calling on President George W. Bush to lead international condemnation of Beijing and it was revealed that the outlawed Falun Gong were among 126 Nobel nominees.
In addition, rights watchdog Amnesty International issued a damning report on torture in China, and domestic pressure forced Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chretien to devote a significant part of talks in Beijing with China's leaders to human rights.
U.S. DECISION WATCHED
Zhu's remarks came in response to moves in the U.S. Senate by Democrat Paul Wellstone of Minnesota and Republican Tim Hutchinson of Arkansas, who said China's human rights record had deteriorated since last year's U.N. rights meeting.
They cited China's increasing attacks on minority religious groups and long-standing campaigns against pro-democracy activists and ethnic minority groups as reasons the Bush government should go ahead with the resolution.
Sources in Washington say they expect Secretary of State Colin Powell and other top officials to meet this week to decide on a recommendation to Bush on the resolution.
Washington has routinely sponsored a resolution condemning China's human rights record, except in 1998, when China released some dissidents from prison and signed a human rights convention.
But China has lobbied successfully nearly every year to prevent debate on the resolution.
"We hope the relevant countries will draw lessons from past failures and think twice before proceeding this year," Zhu said.
RIGHTS DIALOGUE QUESTIONED
Beijing also offers formal human rights dialogues to those countries who do not back the critical U.N. resolution.
While some U.S. allies in Europe say the annual U.N. resolution merely angers China without changing its behaviour, activists say bilateral human rights dialogues have had little effect.
China's anti-Falun Gong campaign, which rights groups say has resulted in more than 100 deaths in police custody and landed thousands in labour camps without trial, has unfolded while China and many Western states have held regular human rights exchanges.
Reacting to reports from Oslo that Falun Gong was among this year's Novel Peace Prize nominees, Zhu angrily repeated Beijing's assertion that the group was an "evil cult" that duped followers, broke up families and destroyed social order.
"China firmly opposes using the Nobel Prize for ulterior motives," he said.
05:17 02-15-01
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