US religion body's accuse against Chinese religious policy "groundless"

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Friday in Beijing that the accuse from a US religion body against the religious situation in China and other developing countries is "groundless".

Liu said the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) once again potshot the religious policies of China and other countries in its 2004 annual report.

Liu said, in response to request of China's comment, part of the report involves China is based on hearsay and is unreasonable and only shows the organization's ignorance and prejudice.

China protects the freedom of its citizens to believe in religion legally, and Chinese people enjoy broad and sufficient freedom of religious belief, he said. This is obvious to all.

USCIRF's interference with China's internal affairs and undermining of China-US relations in the name of religious freedomis doomed to failure, Liu said.

China advised that USCIRF should investigate problems in the United States itself, stop abruptly denigrating other countries, so as to avoid harming its own reputation and causing opposition from peoples of the world, he said.

Source: Xinhua