On March 23, 2004, at the instruction of Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Assistant Foreign Minister Shen Guofang summoned US Ambassador to China Clark T.Randt for an urgent meeting and made solemn representations to the United States for its decision to make a human rights motion against China at the 60th UN Human Rights Conference this year.

Shen said China strongly opposes the US' decision to introduce an anti-China motion at the conference in that the motion in point is utterly groundless without any supporting evidence. In fact, democratization and legislation in China have been progressing forward continuously and the Chinese government has paid great attention to protecting various rights of the people. For example, China has forged the Regulation on Legal Aid and simplified procedures concerning services by the public security and judicial sectors. What's more, China has amended its Constitution earlier this month to clearly state respect for and protection of human rights and other important content. All these show that China has made remarkable progress in its human rights cause. In addition, the dialogue on human rights between China and the European Union and other western countries has been fruitful and widely appreciated by the international community.

Shen noted China has consistently held that differences between China and the United States on human rights issues should be addressed through dialogue and made many efforts in that regard. However, the US side pays no attention to the great progress China has made on human rights and insists on introducing the motion. It is a typical behavior of politicizing the human rights issue and exercising a double standard and is therefore doomed to meeting with opposition by the international community. Any attempt aimed at interfering in China's internal affairs under the pretext of human rights and changing the system chosen by the Chinese people through exerting pressure will be of no avail.

Shen stressed the confrontation deliberately stirred up by the US side has severely undermined the basis of dialogue and exchanges on human rights between the two countries. Therefore, China cannot but suspend the dialogue and exchanges immediately.