in its 15th annual world report, Human Rights Watch conceded that...

in its 15th annual world report, Human Rights Watch conceded that China had made some progress in protecting rights, but said the ruling Communist Party was not making good on pledges to enforce the rule of law.
"The party's 2004 promise to uphold the rule of law has been compromised by continuing widespread official corruption, party interference in the justice system and a culture of impunity for officials and their families," it said.
"While China has made progress in some areas in recent years strengthening its legal system, allowing more independent news reporting, and sometimes tailoring public policy more closely to public opinion, it remains a highly repressive state."
China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the country's rights record was not perfect, but that the report was biased, irresponsible and politically motivated.
The report criticised the government's harsh control in the far western regions of Tibet and Xinjiang, where China is sensitive to any separatist sentiment.
In Muslim-majority Xinjiang, China continued to use its support for the war on terror "to leverage international support for, or at least acquiescence in, its own crackdown on Uighurs", the report said referring to the main ethnic group in Xinjiang.
The campaign "has been characterised by ... arbitrary arrests, closed trials, and extensive use of the death penalty", it said.