China on Saturday blasted the latest criticism from the United States about China's human rights situation as groundless and slanderous.

"We repudiate the human rights report of the US Department of State, which ignores basic facts, slanders and attacks China's human rights situation," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

Qin's comments came after the US Department of State released on Thursday a report entitled "Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The US Record 2006," which criticized China's human rights situation.

The report, the fifth annual statement, complemented the longstanding Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2006, which was issued in early March.

Qin said China's progress in protecting human rights has attracted world attention and the Chinese people have enjoyed human rights and freedom in accordance with the law.

The international community has spoken highly of China's human rights practice, the spokesman said.

"The United States is not in a position to depict itself as a human rights watchdog, a view generally shared by the international community and public opinion," Qin said.

"The United States should seriously reflect on its own human rights problems and put an end to its double or multiple standards on human rights," Qin said.

The spokesman urged the United States to stop interfering in the internal affairs of other countries under the pretext of human rights.

The United States should also remove the obstacles barring itself from holding dialogues with other countries on human rights, Qin said.

(Xinhua News Agency April 7, 2007)