|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BEIJING (AFP) - The Chinese government Wednesday accused the United States of interfering in its internal affairs and rejected criticism over religious freedom in the country.
"China strongly resents and firmly opposes that, and urges the U.S. to immediately stop and correct its extremely erroneous acts," the Xinhua news agency quoted foreign affairs ministry spokesperson Sun Yuxi as saying. The U.S. State Department's annual report on international religious freedom, published on Tuesday, said that religious repression in China had markedly worsened in the past year. But Sun condemned the report and said it disregarded the fact that the Chinese government protects citizens' freedom of religion and belief as well as normal religious activities according to the law, Xinhua reported. It was also a gross interference in China's internal affairs, he said. The State Department report pinpointed several countries, notably China, where the U.S. administration discovered an "increase in restrictions" imposed on Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims and members of the Falungong sect, as well as the Catholic and Protestant churches. |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
