Foreign ministry condemns Britain over latest human rights report

China on Tuesday condemned Britain for interfering in its domestic affairs, in response to a human rights report, a day after the British government said Beijing had called off human rights talks.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying accused Britain of issuing the report with "irresponsible remarks made about the Chinese political system, rudely slandering and criticizing China's human rights situation."

Britain's path on this issue was not helpful for bilateral communication on human right subjects and was not good for the development of the Sino-British relationship, Hua told a media briefing on Tuesday.

Britain must immediately stop using human rights as a pretext for interfering in China's internal politics and judicial sovereignty, in a bid to ensure the next round of human rights talks between the two countries, Hua added.

Britain listed China as "a country of concern" in its annual human rights report last week, saying it had observed increased curbs on freedom of expression, association and assembly in 2013.

China reacted by calling off talks with Britain on Beijing's human rights record, which was scheduled on Wednesday, UK media reported.

The two countries had agreed to resume the regular meetings during a trip to China by British Prime Minister David Cameron in December.

Cameron's visit was aimed at spurring closer trade and business links between Britain and the world's second biggest economy and at drawing a line under a dispute involving Dalai Lama that had led to a diplomatic freeze.

"We are disappointed that the Chinese government last week unilaterally postponed the Dialogue, which was due to take place on 16 April," a British Foreign Office spokeswoman said.

"It is not for us to say why it was postponed. We are now in discussion to agree new dates," she said.