US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has denounced China's clampdown on dissent as a "fool's errand," saying Beijing was trying to stop the course of history.
The remarks, some of the strongest by a senior US official since China launched a major crackdown earlier this year, came as Clinton was meeting with senior leaders from Beijing as part of the two nations' annual dialogue.
"They're worried, and they are trying to stop history, which is a fool's errand," Clinton told The Atlantic magazine, referring to Chinese officials.
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"They cannot do it. But they're going to hold it off as long as possible," she said.
Chinese authorities, apparently spooked by the wave of pro-democracy uprisings sweeping the Middle East, have detained dozens of lawyers, artists and other perceived critics in recent weeks.
China has rejected US criticism. But offering a more conciliatory tone, Executive Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun said that Beijing has made "remarkable progress" since the communist state was established in 1949.
"I want to stress that the Chinese government is committed to protecting and upholding human rights and we will ensure and protect people's freedom of religious faith in accordance with the law," Zhang told reporters in Washington.
"No country including the United States is perfect on the human rights issue. It is only natural for China and the United States to see human rights differently in some aspects," Zhang said.
"So we call for a dialogue and consultation on the basis of equality, mutual respect and non-interference in each other's internal affairs," he said.
Despite her criticism on human rights, Clinton defended the US policy of seeking cooperation with China on a range of global issues, saying in the magazine interview: "We live in a real world."
"We don't walk away from dealing with China because we think they have a deplorable human rights record. We don't walk away from dealing with Saudi Arabia," she said.
The United States said it was raising specific cases with China during the two-day Strategic and Economic Dialogue, which closes on Tuesday. Beijing has repeatedly rejected foreign concerns on human rights.
In the magazine interview, Clinton also voiced concern that the United States and its allies were failing to project their influence at a time that China's state media was rapidly expanding its presence around the world.
She pointed to planned spending cuts by the BBC, part of a budget-cutting drive underway both in Britain and the United States.
"We are losing the war of ideas because we are not in the arena the way we were in the Cold War," Clinton said.
"I just feel like we're missing an opportunity. And I'm well aware of our budget constraints and all of the difficulties we face, but now is the time," she said.
