China Rebuffs Australia`s Concerns Over Tibet

But Liu on Tuesday said no country could claim a perfect record on human rights, adding China continued to make progress.

China rebuffed Australian concerns about human rights in Tibet on Tuesday, and used annual human rights talks to quiz Australia about the treatment of indigenous Aborigines. China's Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Jieyi said Australian concerns about human rights in Tibet were unfounded.

"It is not an issue about human rights or religious freedom or culture. I believe the Australian side is very much aware of the Chinese position on this issue," Liu said.

"The important thing in understanding this issue is that we must base our opinions on solid facts."

China has faced international criticism that it represses religious and political freedoms in Tibet, which it considers to be part of China.

The Australia-China talks came as China faces United Nations scrutiny of its human rights at a meeting in Geneva, where China insists it is guided by the rule of law and is committed to protect and promote human rights.

China is Australia's top trading partner and a major customer for Australian natural resources. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who speaks fluent Mandarin, has made strengthening ties with China a key foreign policy objective since winning office in late 2007.

But that hasn't stopped Rudd, who once served as a junior diplomat in Beijing, from raising human rights issues directly with China's leadership.

Rudd last year spoke of his concerns about human rights in Tibet in a speech in Mandarin to Chinese students in Beijing, after monk-led marches in the Tibetan capital Lhasa turned violent in March.

But Liu on Tuesday said no country could claim a perfect record on human rights, adding China continued to make progress.

"China is a developing country and as such will of course face challenges in promoting social progress in China and in promotion of human rights," he said.

Australian officials said they used the bilateral talks in Canberra to raise human rights in Tibet, as well as freedom of expression and religion in China, the treatment of political prisoners, torture, the death penalty and rights for women.

But Australia also said China's human rights had improved "considerably" over the past 30 years.

Liu said the human rights talks, the 12th between Australia and China, were wide ranging and gave both countries a chance to better understand issues of concern.

"For example, the Chinese side wished to learn how the Australian government is taking measures on the issue of indigenous people," he said.

Australia's 460,000 indigenous Aborigines make up about 2 percent of the population but suffer far higher rates of unemployment, substance abuse and domestic violence, and have a life expectancy 17 years shorter than other Australians.