BEIJING (AP) - Long the subject of human rights criticism from the United States, China shot back Monday with a rebuttal, saying the U.S. government continually denounces other nations while "turning a blind eye to its own human rights-related problems."
The report, issued annually in recent years by the government's State Council Information Office, features a panoply of accusations from a variety of sources. It comes a week after a U.S. State Department report accused China of serious human rights violations.
Among its conclusions: American cities are plagued with violence and crime, racial discrimination remains endemic, guns are everywhere and there is no constitutional protection of equal rights for women.
"Once again the United States, assuming the role of `world judge of human rights,' has distorted human rights conditions in many countries and regions in the world, including China, and accused them of human rights violations, all the while turning a blind eye to its own human rights-related problems," the report said.
"In fact," it said, "it is right in the United States where serious human rights violations exist."
The report, 10,000 Chinese characters long, was released by Xinhua, China's official news agency.
It includes scant criticism of the U.S. domestic or military response to the Sept. 11 attacks - something China is loath to condemn, since it has a vested interest in fighting terrorism. The criticism was limited to this, a reflection of China's unease at the historical Western military presence in Asia:
"Before the September 11 incident, the United States had stationed its troops in more than 140 countries. Today, the United States has expanded its so-called security interests to almost every corner of the world."