BEIJING, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- China said Thursday the United States should focus on its own human rights concerns rather than issue a report regarding other countries' domestic affairs.
Ma Zhaoxu, spokesman for China's foreign ministry, downplayed a U.S. report released this week that criticized China's human rights efforts, saying U.S. officials were "interfering" in other countries' affairs, China's official state-run Xinhua news agency said.
"The United States should examine its own human rights issues, stop calling itself human rights guard and interfering in other countries' domestic affairs by issuing human rights reports," Ma said at a press conference in Beijing.
The U.S. report released Wednesday criticized the Chinese government for its treatment of ethnic groups and certain religious groups, along with the state of the country's current legal system.
Ma said his country feels human rights protection and promotion is important and had laws in place to ensure Chinese nationals enjoy such rights.
Xinhua said, according to Ma, China is fully prepared to discuss human rights with other countries as long as such talks take place in a state of mutual respect among all participants.
