Beijing - The United States and China had tough talks on Chinese human rights yesterday, finding little common ground on political freedom or on Taiwan's right to a missile defence system, a US spokesman said.
"On human rights, the discussions were forceful and tough and there wasn't a lot of agreement," Mr James Rubin said after the Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, met the Foreign Minister, Mr Tang Jiaxuan, and the Prime Minister, Mr Zhu Rongji.
Ms Albright, speaking at a news conference earlier in the day, deplored Beijing's recent crackdown on pro-democracy activists, while Mr Tang said human rights were no excuse for "wantonly interfering" in the affairs of other countries.
China has executed 10 people for involvement in separatist unrest in the north-west Muslim region of Xinjiang, a court official said yesterday.