China criticizes US for human rights abuses in Iraq News
China criticizes US for human rights abuses in Iraq

[JURIST] China's State Council Thursday responded to US State Department human rights reports issued Monday that had blasted China for human rights abuses [JURIST report] by issuing a report of its own [text] on US human rights practices highlighting abuses committed by the US in Iraq. The document, China's sixth annual response to the US publication, cited atrocities committed by US trops against Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison and claimed that the US was covertly operating about 20 detention centers worldwide to hold "terrorist suspects" to avoid international scrutiny. "The US report poisons the atmosphere for resuming dialogue," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao at a news conference on Wednesday [Chinese government site]. Reuters has more. Xinhua has local Chinese coverage of the story here.