Beijing, May 11: China today condemned as "shocking" the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US and British troops and stressed that the incident showed that no country could claim that its human rights policies were "perfect." "The abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US and British military personnel is shocking, and China condemns such action that violates international conventions," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters here. Liu said that thorough investigation should be carried out and those held responsible should be prosecuted according to law.
He also said that the US and Britain should adhere to the Geneva conventions and other international conventions, and protect the basic human rights of Iraqi prisoners. The spokesman also stressed that the abuse of prisoners in Iraq fully brings out the fact that there may be human rights issues in any country and regions.

"No country can be boasting of having the perfect human rights situation. So we think that dialogue should be the way to eliminate differences between different countries," he said when asked whether Washington has lost the moral high ground in preaching human rights to Beijing.
China and the US are always at odds over Beijing's human rights policies. The two confronted each other last month at the UN Human Rights Commission annual meeting in Geneva where Washington attempted to censure the communist nation.
China, enraged by the US move, suspended all bilateral dialogues on human rights and also defeated the draft motion at the Geneva meet. Bureau Report