China welcomed the absence of UN criticism of its human...

China welcomed the absence of UN criticism of its human rights record at an annual rights meeting, saying the lack of a censure showed increasing international recognition of China's stand on rights.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue also lashed back at an Amnesty International statement that China executed more people than all other countries put together in 2001, calling accusations China abused the death penalty "baseless".
"Whether it is necessary to have capital punishment depends on the necessity of promoting social stability," Zhang said."We believe Amnesty International's censure of China's so-called misuse of the death penalty has no basis whatsoever."
"Although China has maintained a policy of capital punishment, we have always implemented strict controls on it," she said.Unlike previous years, no country came forward with a resolution critical of China before a deadline passed for presenting motions at the annual meeting of the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva.
"We have maintained that all countries should conduct human rights exchanges and dialogue on the basis of equality and mutual respect," Zhang told a regular news briefing."This time we have noted that this proposal has been recognised by more and more countries internationally and has become the mainstream," said Zhang.
China had been widely expected to avoid official criticism this year in the absence of the United States, which failed to win re-election to the 53-nation Commission in an upset vote in New York late in 2001.