China says U.S. meddling by criticizing its religious freedom

BEIJING, Nov. 20 Kyodo

China on Monday rejected U.S. criticism about the country's religious freedom, saying that Washington is meddling in Beijing's internal affairs by including it in a U.S. list of ''countries of particular concern.''

''The Chinese government legally protects its citizens' religious freedom,'' Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement posted on the ministry's website. ''We urge the United States to respect facts and stop using issues such as religion to interfere in China's internal affairs.''

China was among eight nations on the U.S. State Department list issued last week. The other countries were Myanmar, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan.

At a press conference, U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom John Hanford said that while China has made progress over the past decades, its policies are ''very inconsistently implemented.''

The United States released its eighth annual Report on International Religious Freedom on Sept. 15, but the release of the list of countries had been delayed this year.

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