China yesterday rejected US criticism of its crackdown on the banned spiritual Falun Gong movement.
In the first official comment by the new Bush administration on human rights in China, the US State Department called for the release of all religious and political prisoners.
A spokesman called on China to release "all of those detained or imprisoned for peacefully exercising their internationally recognised rights to freedom of religion, freedom of belief and freedom of conscience".
He said the US was saddened that five Falun Gong members set fire to themselves in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in an attempted group suicide on Tuesday. One of the five died of her injuries.
China was quick to hit back at the US condemnation of its suppression of Falun Gong saying further criticism would harm relations.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman demanded that Washington stay out of what he said was a fight against an "evil cult".
"China demands the US government to respect the stand of the Chinese government on the Falun Gong issue and stop interfering in China's internal affairs on the excuse of Falun Gong, so as to avoid harming Sino-US relations," the spokesman said.
"Instead of being a religious group, it is actually an antihuman, anti-society and anti-science evil cult that keeps cheating and harming the people and has seriously endangered the society", the spokesman added.
Chinese tourists were still being frisked by police patrolling in Tiananmen Square yesterday. No attempts by sect members to protest were reported.
Chinese authorities are concerned that the reported torture and deaths of Falun Gong members detained by police could scupper its bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics. The International Olympic Committee will inspect the city in February and vote on a host city in July.
One of the first tests of the Bush administration's approach to China will come in an upcoming meeting of the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, where it has often pressed for a resolution critical of the Chinese government.
AFP adds: Chinese authorities have given the green light for the construction of a bridge in the eastern part of the country that could become the longest in the world, state media said yesterday. The planned six-lane bridge will span 66.3 km across Hangzhou Bay just south of Shanghai, and will cost 6.5 billion yuan (£669 million).