Actions included numerous cases of “monitoring, harassment, detention, arrest and imprisonment of journalists, writers, activists and defense lawyers, many of whom were seeking to exercise their rights under law.”

Freedom of speech and press declined as the government tightened censorship, including on the Internet.

Chinese student protester at Tiennamen Square in 1989.

Concerning Tibet, the report had no criticism of China's continuing human rights abuses in the region, which is headed by the exiled Dalai Lama. It stated only that the U.S. sought to “advocate vigorously” for improvements in human rights conditions in Tibet.

North Korea continues to be one of the most repressive regimes in the world, the report found.

“An estimated 150,000 to 200,000 persons are believed to be held in detention camps in remote areas, many for political reasons.”

North Korean officials prohibit live births in prison and forced abortions are performed, particularly in detention centers holding women repatriated from China, the report said.

Defectors say many prisoners have died from torture, starvation, disease, exposure or a combination of these causes.

Prisoners carry human excrement from homes of security officials at Yodeok Political Prison Camp in South Hamgyeong Province, North Korea. Fuji TV

North Korean officials conducted chemical and biological weapons testing against human subjects “up through the early 1990s,” stated the report, quoting defectors.

The report criticized Beijing's policy of returning North Korean refugees who have fled to China back to the communist state, where they face death or imprisonment.