US hits China on human rights

? The United States on Wednesday scolded China for a litany of human rights abuses last year even though Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton suggested during her recent Beijing visit that the issue would take a back seat to broader concerns like the global financial crisis.

In a report on the state of human rights around the world, the State Department singled out China for numerous violations while noting a general deterioration in conditions in other countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and eastern Europe.

The report noted some improvements in Afghanistan and Iraq, two countries where American troops are fighting insurgencies. The document also made clear that the Obama administration welcomes comments about U.S. human rights practices, an oblique reference to international criticism of America’s own treatment of prisoners taken in those conflicts.