July 2, 2003

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States complained to China about human rights abuses during talks in Washington this week, the State Department said on Wednesday.

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage brought up the subject at a meeting on Tuesday with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Li, spokesman Richard Boucher told a briefing.

"The deputy secretary ... conveyed our serious concern about deterioration in the human rights situation in China," said Boucher. The focus of Wang's talks has been North Korea , non-proliferation of weapons and South Asia.

A State Department official, who asked not to be named, cited a series of recent repressive measures by Chinese authorities, including the closure of a newspaper and the arrest of more Falun Gong practitioners and people accused of various speech and publication offenses.

The official said Armitage did not necessarily bring up all these issues.

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