BEIJING -- China said on Tuesday a U.S. State Department report that accused Beijing of suppressing religious freedom was full of lies and urged Washington not to hold double standard in the war on terrorism.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Kong Quan criticized the United States for turning a blind eye to its own human rights abuses and said Muslim separatists in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang were legitimate targets of the campaign against terror.

"This report is full of fabrications," he said. "It confuses right and wrong and attacks China's legal system, ethnic policies and human rights conditions.

"The Chinese people and government are strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to it."

"We think this is an example of the United States using human rights as a pretext to interfere in other countries' internal affairs," Kong said.

"We have repeatedly stressed that no double standard should be employed in the fight against terrorism," he added.

Beijing blames Uighur separatists for bombings and assassinations, and says they are linked directly to Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

"By practicing double standard on human rights and minorities' issues, the United States will definitely be despised and opposed by all righteous people in the world."

The U.S. report said officials in Xinjiang had also restricted the building of mosques and initiated a campaign to discourage religious attire, including veils on Muslim women.

The United States has consistently criticized China's human rights record, particularly its intolerance of a broad range of religions. In a visit to China last month, President George W. Bush urged Beijing to expand religious freedoms, saying religion was not something to be feared, Reuters reported.