BEIJING, April 16: China on Friday said the United States "face reality" and learn from its failure after a US-sponsored resolution condemning China's rights record was thrown out by the UN Human Rights Commission.
Twenty-eight countries in the 53-member assembly backed a motion brought by China to block the draft resolution, which expressed "concern about continuing reports of severe restrictions on freedom of assembly, association, expression, conscience and religion".
China said the defeat highlighted the futility of Washington's actions, backed by a largely European bloc but also including Australia and Latin American countries like Costa Rica and Guatemala.
"We demand the US side face the reality, draw lessons from its failure, abandon confrontation and resolve the difference between China and the United States on human rights by dialogues and exchanges for the development of bilateral relations," said foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan.
Mr Kong said the draft resolution "has no factual ground" and said Beijing "adheres to people-centred principle and is committed to do all it can in the interest of the Chinese people".
China, which won support from allies like Pakistan, India, Russia, Cuba and developing nations in Africa, accused the US of tabling the motion for its own domestic political purposes.
"What it earned is an isolation and what it gained is a failure," said Mr Kong. While Sino-US ties have warmed in recent years, friction remains with human rights one of the key sticking points.
RUSSIA, ZIMBABWE: The story was the same for Zimbabwe, which critics accuse of widespread abuse, while Russia easily mustered enough votes to quash an EU motion which sought to question the tactics of its forces in Chechnya.
Latin American countries, with strong encouragement from Washington, won a tight vote on a mildly worded resolution chiding Cuba for restrictions on such rights as freedom of expression and the right to a fair trial.
On North Korea, the commission was acting for only the second time in its more than 50 years of existence. A first resolution, passed last year, called on Pyongyang to engage in "positive dialogue" on human rights with UN bodies, but held back from appointing an investigator - a sensitive issue for many countries which see their sovereignty at stake.
"That shows the commission can really act when it wants to," said Loubna Freih, a spokeswoman for the US-based Human Rights Watch. "But some of the other decisions just fly in the face of facts," she added.
Her organization has criticized Moscow for not doing enough to halt alleged abuse in Chechnya, where Russian forces have been accused of extrajudicial killings and torture. But Russia angrily attacked the EU when it presented its resolution, accusing it of an "unfriendly act" and of "playing into the hands of terrorists".
Cuba was equally scathing of Honduras when the central American country presented its call to Havana to improve its rights record and to allow a special UN investigator to visit. -Reuters
