China tells US ‘to improve its own human rights status’

CHINA yesterday lashed out against American criticism of its human rights record, saying racial discrimination and crime were still rife in the United States and prisoners were being abused at US-run detention centres abroad.

The State Council, China’s cabinet, denounced the United States for what it said were rampant violence and widespread discrimination against minorities in its response to the US State Department’s report on human rights worldwide.

Black people are given heavier criminal penalties, arrested more frequently and are more likely to be targeted for hate crimes, the Chinese report said.