HANOI, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. State Department's Human Rights Report 2007 was based on false and prejudiced information about Vietnam, local newspaper Vietnam News Friday quoted a spokesman of the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry as saying.

    It was regrettable that it had again failed to make objective observations about the real situation in the country, spokesman of the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry Le Dung said.

    Vietnam has made great strides in ensuring and developing freedom of its citizens and the achievements have been recognized and highly appreciated by international community, he said.

    Vietnam respects the rights of all citizens to freedom and democracy, he said, noting that like other countries, it is unacceptable to exploit the rights to violate the law.

    Dung said it is normal that Vietnam and the United States have differences on human rights issues. He has called for an increased exchange and dialogue based on equality between the two countries without interfering in internal affairs of each other.