BEIJING, June 3 (UPI) _ China has lashed out at western concepts of human rights just one day before the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

In a scathing commentary published in the state-run China Daily, one of China's top rights officials blames ongoing dispute over basic freedoms on "different values."

Director Zhu Muzhi ("Joo Moo-chur") of the China Society for the Study of Human Rights says Beijing has posted remarkable improvements in rights protection while the United States lags far behind.

Zhu cites rampant racial discrimination and growing poverty in some U.S. cities as evidence of America's lack of protection for basic values.

Meanwhile, he touts developments in Chinese democracy and the elimination of serfdom in Tibet as true indicators of rights improvement.

However, Zhu steers clear of the 1989 massacre of student protesters calling for more say in their government and a stronger rule of law in China.

He also brushes aside reports about Chinese attempts to crush political dissent as "rumors and lies of a few who betrayed their motherland."

Zhu urges the west to look to the future, not the past, and develop stronger dialogue with China "on an equal footing."

His comments were the only official indication the government is working to balance a perceived deluge of anti-China propaganda expected on the anniversary of the crackdown.