BEIJING, Nov 20 (AFP) - China has issued a staunch defence of its human rights record, following a three-pronged attack at the United Nations by Australia, Canada and the United States.

"No one can deny China's achievements in the field of human rights," Chinese UN representative Zhang Fengkun was quoted as saying by the Xinhua news agency in a dispatch Wednesday from New York.

"Everyone is equal before the law, according to China's constitution," Zhang said, adding that anyone who violated the law would be tried "without exception."

China provoked an international outcry last month when it sentenced former student pro-democracy leader Wang Dan to 11 years in prison for plotting to overthrow the government.

Zhang stressed that China's judiciary was wholly independent of the government and would brook no interference in its affairs.

"People cannot but cast doubt about the motives of the so-called democratic countries that attack China on this issue," she said.

Responding to charges of human rights abuses in Tibet, Zhang argued that conditions had improved enormously since China "liberated" the Himalayan region in 1951.

"If this change is considered ... the purpose of those who advocate human rights is to condemn Tibetan people once again to the status of serfs," she said, adding that foreign countries were using the human rights issue as an excuse to interfere in China's internal affairs.