China's top paper rounds on U.S. over Baltimore protests

China, frequently taken to task by the United States and other Western nations for its own human rights problems, rarely misses an opportunity to hit back, and every year issues its own report about the human rights situation in the United States.

The People's Daily, the official paper of the ruling Communist Party, said in a commentary that the unrest in Baltimore and other cities such as Ferguson, Missouri exposed the "systemic weakness of the U.S. system".

"Each time, when the hatreds old and new of U.S. racial contradictions boil over, it clearly tells the world that the declaration 'all are born equal' in this so-called 'field of dreams' still has yet to take root," the paper said.

It was published under the pen name "Zhong Sheng", meaning "Voice of China", often used to give views on foreign policy.

Protesters in the mostly black city of Baltimore have sought answers about the fate of Freddie Gray, who died after suffering spinal injuries while in police custody.

The People's Daily said that the part of town where Gray lived was blighted by poverty and unemployment, and that nationally the gap between rich and poor had continued to increase.

If U.S. politicians did not tackle this "persistent ailment" then future unrest would become an almost daily occurrence, the commentary said.

The paper made no mention of China's own problems with inequality or racial discrimination, something rights groups say in becoming more and more of an issue in places such as Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people.

Hundreds have died in unrest in Xinjiang over the past two years or so, blamed by the government on Islamist militants.

Exiles and rights groups say Uighur frustration at Chinese controls on their religion and culture is the main source of the violence, though China denies its policies fuel unrest or that there is a discrimination problem.

China's stability-obsessed Communist Party also takes a tough line on any form of public protest that may challenge its rule.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Alex Richardson)