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China rights 'worsened', says US China rights 'worsened', says US
(about 1 hour later)
The US state department has criticised China in an annual report on human rights around the world.The US state department has criticised China in an annual report on human rights around the world.
China's human rights record worsened in some areas despite the country hosting the Beijing Olympics, the report said. China's human rights record worsened in some areas, including the repression of dissidents and of minorities in Tibet, the report said.
On a trip to China last week US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said co-operation between the two countries should take precedence over tensions. The report came a week after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on a trip to China that co-operation should take precedence over tensions.
But she also said she had held candid discussions on human rights issues with her Chinese counterpart. Among the other countries criticised were Russia and North Korea.
The state department report said Chinese authorities had "committed extrajudicial killings and torture, coerced confessions of prisoners, and used forced labour".
Privacy rights and freedom of speech and of the press remain under pressure in China, it said.
Among the other countries criticised in the report were Russia and North Korea.
Russia had "continued a negative trajectory in its overall domestic human rights record", the report said.Russia had "continued a negative trajectory in its overall domestic human rights record", the report said.
In North Korea it reported that the human rights record was abysmal, with authorities killing babies at birth in prisons. In North Korea, it said, the human rights record "remained abysmal", giving the example of authorities killing babies at birth in prisons.
The report covers 2008, the final year of former President George W Bush's administration.The report covers 2008, the final year of former President George W Bush's administration.
In its preface, Mrs Clinton vowed to heed criticism of the US' own human rights record. In its preface, Mrs Clinton vowed to heed criticism of Washington's own human rights record.
"Not only will we seek to live up to our ideals on American soil, we will pursue greater respect for human rights as we engage other nations and people around the world," she said."Not only will we seek to live up to our ideals on American soil, we will pursue greater respect for human rights as we engage other nations and people around the world," she said.
Internet curbs
Human rights activists criticised Mrs Clinton for not speaking out over human rights during her recent trip to China.
However, the secretary of state said she had held candid discussions on human rights issues with her Chinese counterpart.
The state department report said that in 2008 Chinese authorities had "committed extrajudicial killings and torture, coerced confessions of prisoners, and used forced labour".
Cultural and religious repression of ethnic minorities got worse in largely Muslim Xinjiang and in Buddhist Tibet, it said, with repression peaking around the time of last summer's Beijing Olympics.
The report also cited Chinese curbs on freedom of speech and the press, including the internet.