The problem with the "assesssment of Human Rights in the United States," is that many people distort the concept of human rights.  Human rights violations are not simply a laundry list of all the bad things about a country.  That would be like saying China has bad human rights because the pollution gives people lung cancer, or poor people don't have enough food to eat.  Human rights violations include actions where the government deliberately violates people of rights they are "owed" simply because they are human.  For example, racism is often cited in China as a human rights violation in the United States.  However, racism is not systematically put into place by the government today as it was in the South before the civil rights movement.  Rather, racism is the fault of individuals' own ignorance and preconceptions.  Another often cited human rights violation in the US is crime.  Yes, the US has a high crime rate, but is this the fault of the government or the fault of individuals?  Could more be done to stop it?  Probably, but running a country is not an easy task, and crime is not the only issue on the table.  This is just like saying China violates its citizens human rights because more people die in car accidents in China than any other country.  Yes, it is something that needs to be improved, but it certainly is not a human rights issue..

.....all that being said...the concept of Human Rights is a concept rooted in the ideologies of Western Democracies.  What qualifies as acceptable behavior can change from situation to situation.  For example, most people would agree that stealing in and of itself is bad.  However, if you had nothing to eat, and the only way to survive was to steal, we would probably be more open to the idea.  Thus the concept of human rights.  China is much less developed than the United States, not to mention they have 5 times as many people.  It is unrealistic to expect a government like China's to react the same as those of developed western nations in all situations, especially in regards to "human rights."  The leaders of China today have all lived through the Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward.   They have experienced far more hardship than those of us living our cushy American lives in the suburbs.  And in order to improve the quality of life for 1.3 billion Chinese people, sacrifices will have to be made.  Sometimes these sacrifices may seem unacceptable to Westerners, because these sacrifices are not needed in our developed countries, and someday they will not be needed in China either.  It is very easy for Westerners to forget, that China still has a lot of catching up to do with the West.  (I am not saying this is China's fault, just a matter of fact).  It is unfair for us to judge China's actions in 2007 based on the United States' expectations in 2007.   Just look at what was happening in our country not that long ago...slavery, extermination of the indians, etc. 

I just wish the Chinese government would take this outlook, rather than ridiculously criticize the "human rights" in the United States.   This would get them much more  sympathy from the West.