China rejected U.S. criticism of its religious rights record as unfair on Sunday, saying the United States should put its own house in order and stop meddling in the practices of other nations.
The State Department's Annual Report on Religious Freedom last week rebuked China, a growing U.S. partner in trying to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis, saying it tried to restrict religious practice to state-sanctioned groups while others suffered varying degrees of "interference and harassment."
"The U.S. censure on China's religious policy and religious freedom went against reality and was extremely unfair and absolutely unreasonable," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.
"We express our strong displeasure and firm opposition to it," Liu said in a statement published on the Foreign Ministry's Web site: www.fmprc.gov.cn.
The U.S. report also sharply criticized allies like Saudi Arabia and Egypt and adversaries like North Korea and Iran, both branded part of an "axis of evil" along with pre-war Iraq.
Liu said China only banned illegal organizations, such as the Falun Gong spiritual sect, from "conducting illegal and criminal activities" in the guise of religion.
Beijing has labeled the group an evil cult.
"We urge the U.S. side to pay more attention to the problems of its domestic religious freedom and not to always find fault with other nations," Liu said.
He urged Washington to stop "using the religious issue to interfere with China's internal affairs and do more to help boost understanding and cooperation between the two countries."