China launches counterattack on US human rights record

THE United States is beset by violence, racism and torture and has no authority to condemn other governments’ human rights problems, China said yesterday, countering US criticism of Beijing’s crackdown on dissidents and rights activists.

The row between Beijing and Washington over human rights has intensified since China’s ruling Communist Party extended its clampdown, a move which has sparked an outcry from Washington and other Western governments.

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is the most prominent of the activists to be detained by police or held in secretive custody in the latest crackdown.