(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-06-03 19:41

BEIJING - China doesn't improve its human rights in response to the presumed will of any country, nor because of any certain activity to be held, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters here on Tuesday.

He was responding to a question about whether US President George Bush's attendance at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics would make China concede on human rights issues.

"We have been committed to improving human rights not on the premise of the will of any nation, group, organization or individual, nor because of a certain activity to be held that makes us concede to the human rights issue," the spokesman said.

Qin noted that the government has managed to ensure and improve the human rights of its citizens and made remarkable achievements in this field. China will firmly push forward the human rights cause, he added.

He stressed that China advocates that human rights dialogues should be based on equality and mutual respect, and China opposes pressuring and taking double standards to interfere in other countries' internal affairs.

Qin mentioned the 14th human rights dialogue between China and the United States held here from May 24 to 28, saying it was "positive" and "constructive."

He said the dialogue, touching on freedom of speech and other human rights issues, would be helpful for future discussions and conducive to the healthy and stable development of Sino-US relations.