GENEVA, April 8 (AFP) - The European Union delivered relatively moderate criticism against China on Tuesday night before the UN Commission on Human Rights, prompting Beijing's delegate to regret what he called continued "confrontation."

Even though the EU itself is not putting forth a resolution critical of China's human rights record, as it has every year since the Tiananmen massacre of June 1989, the Netherlands' delegate to the UN commission did issue a list of criticism against Beijing.

The Netherlands represents the EU at the ongoing commission hearings because it holds the six-month rotating presidency of the 15-nation group.

Denmark said earlier that it would put forward a draft resolution on Wednesday criticising China over human rights record. The United States said it would back the move, but France, Germany, Italy and Spain are refusing to join their EU partners in supporting it.

Dutch representative Peter van Wulfften Palthe said Tuesday that the EU had taken note of China's declared intention to adhere to UN conventions on human rights and acknowledged some progress in the Chinese judicial system.

But he added: "This is not sufficient."

"The continued and increased prosecution of those with dissenting views is a worrying development, as well as the number of people detained arbitrarily or detained simply because of their views," he said.

"We are also concerned about human rights in Tibet. We call upon the government of China to cease all activites that threaten the distinct cultural, ethnic and religious identity of Tibetans," he said.

He recalled that the EU had repeatedly expressed its willingness to pursue "a constructive dialogue" with China on human rights.

But Chinese ambassador Wu Jianmin rejected the European stance, saying that human rights had become "a most politicized and confrontational issue" that involves "the strong bullying the weak."

He blamed this state of affairs on a wider North-South confrontation that is turning the UN human rights commission into "a court for the trial of developing countries."

Such a situation bore witness to "intolerable arrogance" when "in the largest developed country ... racism is still running amok," he said, alluding to the United States.

Developed countries, harboring neo-colonialist desires, "dream of reconquering the developing coutries under the bane of the so-called human rights," he said.

"Confrontation is a blind alley," he added. "It has no future for this commission."