China has suspended its human rights talks with the United States, one day after Washington said it would submit a resolution to the United Nations condemning Beijing's record.
"The Chinese side cannot but immediately halt bilateral human rights dialogue and exchanges," Shen Guofang, assistant foreign minister, told U.S. Ambassador Clark Randt, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.
The United States on Monday urged a U.N. watchdog meeting in Geneva to condemn China's "backsliding" on human rights, despite Beijing's warning the move could affect warming Sino-U.S. ties.
U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington is disappointed by Beijing's failure to keep promises made during talks between the two nations in 2002 and its failure to follow through on its stated intention to expand cooperation on human rights in 2003.
"Our goal in sponsoring this resolution is to encourage China to take positive, concrete steps to meet its international obligations, to protect human rights, and fundamental freedoms of the Chinese people," Boucher said.
Washington says China's rights record last year deteriorated with such abuses as extrajudicial killings, torture and the repression of religious and political groups opposed to the government.
Among other things, China has been under the spotlight for how it treats political detainees, the Falun Gong spiritual movement and Muslim Uighurs in the country's far west.
The U.S. decision came just weeks after China released from prison democracy activist Wang Youcai and a Tibetan nun, and cut the jail term of ethnic Uighur businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer -- all cases the United States has brought up in the rights dialogue.
'Think three times'
Rights groups see such moves as a step in the right direction, though largely symbolic, and continue to protest China's record.
Washington decided against such a censure last year and China told the United States to "think three times" about introducing a critical resolution.
At its annual legislative session this month, China's lawmakers added the first-ever mention of human rights to the constitution, though it was ambiguous and made no reference to political freedom.
Shen said Washington went back on its word to announce the resolution and said "the United States should bear all consequences that might arise from this."
China has had dialogues on human rights with the United States, the European Union and other governments since the mid-1990s.
But China has also taken a firm stand on criticism of its human rights record, and has suspended dialogue with the United States before, considering it to be an internal matter.
The United States has called on the international community, particularly the European Union, to support the resolution.
A condemnation from the 53-member U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva, which began its six-week session last week, brings no penalties but spotlights a country's behavior.
While the United States targets abuses of individual liberties, China insists that protecting basic human rights means sheltering, clothing and feeding its 1.3 billion people, and preserving social stability.