The U.S. State Department says the human rights situation in China remains poor and the government continues to commit numerous and serious abuses.
The department's annual human rights report says there has been a trend towards increased harassment, detention and imprisonment of those perceived as a threat to authority in China.
The report says the Chinese government has also adopted measures to more tightly control print, broadcast and electronic media.
The report did note efforts to make legal reforms in the past year, but those efforts stalled. The government did adopt new protections for religious groups.
Also in East Asia, the State Department reports North Korea remains an absolute dictatorship where the government's human rights record is extremely poor. The report says the human rights record of Burma's military government also worsened over the year.
