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Tuesday, February 29 7:15 PM SGT

China warns UN human rights chief over Falungong

China Tuesday warned UN Human Rights High Commissioner Mary Robinson on the eve of her visit here not to pressure the country over its crackdown of the Falungong spiritual movement.

"The tolerance of such a cult will not mean the protection of the Chinese people," foreign ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said.

"The Chinese government is strongly opposed to any country and any international organization making irresponsible remarks about the internal affairs of China."

A number of Western countries, including the United States, have raised concern about human rights violations over Beijing's crackdown on the group, which combines esoteric philosophical teachings with traditional Chinese breathing exercises.

China banned the group in July and branded it an "evil cult". Since then it has arrested thousands of Falungong practitioners and sentenced leading members to jail terms of up to 18 years.

Robinson is due in Beijing on Wednesday for a three-day visit. She first visited the country in September 1998, initiating a dialogue on human rights.

Her trip comes just three weeks before the commission's annual meeting in Geneva where the United States has pledged to table a motion of censure against China.

The US State Department last week issued its annual report on global human rights abuses, which detailed hundreds of cases of arbitrary detention, torture and repression in China.

The censure motion has infuriated Beijing, and Zhu again warned Washington on Tuesday the resolution would meet with failure.

"We urge the US side to stop the interfence of other countries' internal affairs by using the question of human rights and to correct its erroneous resolution," he said.

Robinson was visiting Hong Kong on Tuesday before flying to Beijing later in the day for talks with Chinese authorities on firming up a programme of technical cooperation and finalising a memorandum of understanding.

Welcoming Robinson's three-day visit, Zhu said: "The Chinese government respects the universality of human rights and gives high consideration to the two UN conventions on human rights."

China has not ratified either of the international conventions, but the spokesman said the UN convention on economic, social and cultural rights has already been submitted to China's parliament, the National People's Congress.

The spokesman said the other UN document, designed to ensure citizens' political and civil rights, has not yet been submitted to the NPC, which opens it yearly session on Sunday.

"The Chinese side has exchanged views on many occasions with the European Union and other Western countries on the ratification of these two conventions," he said.

"This fully shows the responsible attitude by the Chinese side."

Rights groups say several thousand Falungong have been rounded up across China this month alone. China admitted to detaining 35,000 between July and November last year.

Amnesty International has described the current crackdown on the Falungong, as well as political and religious dissent, as the worst since the pro-democracy movement was crushed in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

"The ongoing crackdown on peaceful dissent -- the most serious and widespread in China since 1989 -- is alientating and potentially destabilising China," the London-based group said this month.