February 27, 2001

China's human rights record "worsened" in 2000, with "numerous serious abuses" of religious, political and press freedoms, the State Department said yesterday in its annual survey of global human rights practices. ...

Michael E. Parmly, acting assistant secretary for democracy, human rights and labor, confirmed yesterday that the Bush administration will sponsor a resolution critical of China at a U.N. conference on human rights to be held in Geneva in April. The Clinton administration supported such resolutions.

The report cites China's crackdown on Tibetan activists and followers of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, evidence of torture, and suppression of political dissent over the past year in condemning Beijing's record.

"I think if you read the report, it's hard to come to a conclusion that a resolution is not justified," said Mr. Parmly, who said the United States will not only sponsor the resolution but "put in the effort necessary" to enlist other nations to condemn China.

T. Kumar, director of Asia policy in the Washington office of Amnesty International, said the report's use of the word "worsened" was key in the section on China.

"This was the first test for the Bush administration, and we're very happy to see that they passed it," he said.

But Mr. Kumar said human rights groups would be watching closely for the "policy follow-up," including the use of top officials such as Secretary of State Colin Powell to lobby for the U.N. resolution.

China today denounced the report, saying Beijing would soon respond with a catalog of U.S. rights abuses, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

"The U.S. report on human rights around the world had nothing to say about America's own human rights situation," said China's Cabinet.

China has long denounced U.S. criticisms in the annual reports as misguided and hypocritical. Officials in Beijing, who this week are hosting U.N. human rights chief Mary Robinson, yesterday vowed not to let up in the campaign against Falun Gong believers...