The Chinese government is attempting to improve the country's human rights record "in the best way that it can," the Taoiseach has said.
Speaking in Beijing during a trade mission to China, Mr Ahern defended the Irish Government's attitude to China's human rights record.
He said he had raised this issue with leading Chinese politicians, including the country's Prime Minister, Mr Wen Jiabao, three times in the last nine months.
"I watch the large countries in Europe. They say their piece but we can't take any tougher line on any of these issues [ than they do]," he told The Irish Times.
"If anything, we probably raised them more constantly," said Mr Ahern, who earlier met Mr Wen in the Great Hall of the People.
During the meeting, Mr Ahern said Ireland and China had different histories. "This influences the way we see things, including, sometimes, the issue of human rights," he said.
"I believe that the nature of our respective struggles for national independence has had a major influence on our approach to human rights.
"In Ireland, the emphasis has been on the freedom of the individual, whereas in China the focus has been on national cohesion.
"For us in Ireland, issues relating to freedom of belief and conscience and freedom of expression are of particular importance.
"The freedom to protest on such issues is part of our culture, and no party, including my own Government, is spared from criticism, however unjustified we may sometimes feel it to be," he told Mr Wen, according to speaking notes issued later by the Taoiseach's spokeswoman.
"I acknowledge that this is a sensitive matter in China and has to be handled carefully. China is a vast country, with an enormous population, and change requires a sensitive approach," he told Mr Wen.
Recently the New York-based human rights group, Human Rights Watch, said China was still a repressive country, even though some improvements had been seen.
Last night Mr Ahern said the Chinese government frequently believed that outsiders had no understanding of the size of the country, or the pressures that they face.
"They have their own systems, their own ways. We have a process of engagement with the European Union. Co-operation is the best way of moving forward," he told The Irish Times.
"It isn't a simplistic answer that we can never understand a breach of human rights at any time, but we know that the world isn't that simple."
The Chinese government, he said, was attempting to face up to the problem "in the best way that they can. That is the best way of going forward," he said.
The carefully nuanced approach adopted by the Taoiseach is likely to be warmly welcomed by the Chinese authorities.
He rejected charges that the Government was choosing its words carefully because it did not want to jeopardise the chances of improving business links with China.
The Taoiseach is at the head of a 200-strong group of Irish business people in the largest trade mission ever to leave Irish shores.
Today he will attend a business breakfast in Beijing organised by Enterprise Ireland for nearly 600 clients, or potential clients, of Irish companies.
Urging Chinese business people to trade with Ireland, Mr Ahern last night emphasised that Chinese companies would shortly be seeking to set up European operations.
"They will become a source of foreign direct investment. I want them to consider setting up in Ireland, rather than anywhere else," he said.
Speaking at a cultural evening organised by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Mr Ahern said Ireland was a country that wanted to do business "in a straight way and honestly".
Later today he will attend an exhibition organised by the Great Hall of the People and look in on talks between the Minister for Education and Science, Ms Hanafin, Irish third-level institutions and their Chinese counterparts.
Speaking yesterday at Tsinghua University, one of China's most prestigious colleges, Mr Ahern urged students to travel to Ireland for postgraduate studies.