China has issued a report criticising the United States' record on human rights after the US State Department condemned China in its annual report on rights violations around the world released last week.
The information office of the State Council yesterday issued a report that argued serious human rights violations existed in the US.
It urges the US to give up its 'hegemonic practice of creating confrontation and interfering in the internal affairs of others by exploiting the human rights issue'.
'In fact, it is right in the United States where serious human rights violations exist,' the report says.
'Violence and crimes are a daily occurrence in US society, where people's lives, freedom and personal safety are under serious threat,' it says, quoting an article carried by the Christian Science Monitor.
The China report says that in 18 major US cities the number of murder cases has increased drastically, blaming the US media for carrying too many accounts of violent crime that encourage young people to further acts of violence.
'A culture beautifying violence has made young people believe that the gun can 'solve' all problems,' the report says, pointing out that the US National Association of Education estimates about 100,000 students in the US take arms to school every day.