China on Thursday refuted the United States accusation of human rights "backsliding" contained in a draft resolution submitted to the ongoing session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC).

The US presented its resolution to the 60th session of the UNHRC on Monday.

In response, Ambassador Sha Zukang, head of the Chinese delegation to UNHRC, said at the meeting: "It is not out of ignorance or true concern for China's human rights, but because of ulterior motives that a certain country has censured China."

"No human rights situation is perfect in any country in the world. Western countries are by no means models for human rights protection and the developing countries are certainly not synonymous with human rights violations," he said.

"The submission of the anti-China draft resolution by the US after a lull of two years has been entirely prompted by the needs of general elections and has nothing to do with China's human rights," he said.

Ambassador Sha told the Commission that the Chinese government gives great weight to enhancing human rights and its progress in the area has been widely acclaimed during the past year.

"In March, the National People's Congress incorporated into the Constitution in an unambiguous manner the provision that ‘the State respects and protects human rights,' representing a major breakthrough in China's human rights development," he said.

"No one can obliterate China's human rights achievements and no one can block China's progress," he stressed.

The ambassador warned that attempts like those of the United States to "privatize" the Commission blemish its mission and exacerbate confrontations.

He strongly appealed to the UNHCR to put a halt to acrimony and abuse and to restore its original purpose as a forum for mutual understanding and the promotion and protection of human rights.

(China Daily March 26, 2004)