China drafts 'action plan' on human rights

China is drafting a new four-year plan to improve human rights, a top official said Wednesday, amid ongoing international criticism over restrictions on political and civil liberties. State media quoted State Council Information Office director Wang Chen as saying the new action plan would set "comprehensive and systematic" goals, but did not give any detail. The new National Human Rights Action Plan of China (2012-2015) is the second of its kind, said Wang, praising what he said was the success of the version introduced in 2009. "The fulfillment of all targets and tasks in the action plan as scheduled shows that the cause of human rights in China has entered a new stage," state news agency Xinhua quoted Wang as saying. However, rights groups including Human Rights Watch have said China failed to honour the 2009 plan's vow to stop the use of torture or other illegal means to extract confessions, which it said remained "routine." A promise to stop illegal detentions has also fallen short, with the practice still widespread, they say. China's rights record is routinely criticised by Western nations including the United States and European Union, although the country's Communist government insists basic human rights are guaranteed for all citizens. It responds to criticism by pointing to the nation's progress in lifting millions out of poverty through economic reforms in the past three decades, but says rights abuses may occur because the country is still "developing". However, in recent months the authorities have launched their toughest campaign against government critics in years after online appeals emerged in February calling for weekly protests like those that have swept the Arab world. Rights lawyers and activists were among those rounded up, including Ai Weiwei, a prominent artist and government critic who was released last month after three months in detention accused of tax evasion.