China is accusing the United States of a double standard when it accuses Beijing and other countries of violating basic human rights.
The Communist state leveled the accusation Thursday in a report on the U.S.'s human rights record. The report is in response to a critique of China's human rights record issued Tuesday by the U.S. State Department.
In its response, the Chinese State Council highlighted America's growing violent crime rate, and accused the U.S. of restricting the rights of its citizens to join labor unions.
The report also denounced the U.S. over its invasion and occupation of Iraq, which it said had produced the "greatest humanitarian disaster in the modern world."
The U.S. State Department report says Beijing continues to monitor, harass, detain and imprison those who speak out against the government.
But it dropped China from its global list of the 10 worst human rights abusers, nations where human rights are systematically violated by unaccountable rulers. Washington had placed China in the top 10 in 2006 and 2005.