UNITED NATIONS (AP) - China has formally notified the United Nations that it will abide by a 1966 human rights treaty - though it opted out of a clause allowing workers to form independent trade unions.
China ratified the treaty Feb. 28, but announced that it was excluding a clause that says workers should be allowed to unionize. Beijing says Chinese law already safeguards the rights of workers.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, and the International Labor Organization, as well as human rights organizations expressed disappointment that China had taken a reservation.
China's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Shen Guofang, said Tuesday that China's ratification of the treaty showed it had made strides in improving its human rights record.
"In every country, we believe that there is a little room for improvement in the human rights situation," he said, adding that the issue has gotten in the way of bilateral relations with some countries - a reference to the United States.
China's government only allows one national trade union, which is controlled by the ruling Communist Party. It has jailed scores of activists who demanded or tried to form free trade unions or who pushed for workers' rights.
Objecting to parts of international treaties is common. Of the 144 countries besides China that have ratified the economic rights pact, 38 have rejected one or more of its clauses.
The United States signed the treaty in 1977, but Congress has resisted ratifying the pact because it refers to employment and a fair wage as entitlements.
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