China on Thursday dismissed accusations on its security measures toward foreign visitors, saying those measures in public places accord with international common practice.

"Those accusations are unfair," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in response to U.S. Senator Sam Brownback's claims this week that China was planning to monitor foreigners in hotels during the Olympic Games.

"Privacy is respected and guaranteed in China. China's security measures in hotels and other public places are not beyond the internationally, generally used measures," Liu told a press conference.

Liu urged the U.S. senator and other relevant politicians to discard bias, stop slandering China and avoid doing what may sabotage the Beijing Olympic Games and undermine the China-U.S. relations.

(Xinhua News Agency August 1, 2008)