The US government has been playing its human rights and religious freedom cards again while ignoring China's development in these areas, Chinese experts said, commenting on the annual US report on international religious freedom.

The report, issued by the US Department of State on Monday, listed China as one of eight countries that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton designated as "countries of particular concern."

The report said there was a "marked deterioration" during 2011 in the government's protection of religious freedom in China.

The report blamed "increasing restrictions" on religious practices in Tibetan areas for a dozen self-immolations by Tibetans last year. 

It also said the government continued to repress Muslims in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and other parts of China, while continuing to crack down on Christian house churches.

Xiong Kunxin, an ethnic studies professor at the Minzu University of China, told the Global Times that the values of Western countries are different from those in China, and the US always interferes in the domestic affairs of other countries in the name of human rights and religious freedom.

In recent months, China has strengthened its security measures in the Tibet and Xinjiang autonomous regions after extreme incidents occurred there.

Dargye, from Aba county in the Tibetan area of Sichuan Province, and Tobgye Tseten, from Xiahe county in a Tibetan community of Gansu Province, attempted self-immolations on Barkhor Bazaar in the heart of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet in May, Xinhua reported.

A month later, extremists tried to hijack a plane flying from Hetian to Urumqi in Xinjiang recently, only to be arrested after the crew and passengers fought back.

"The increased security measures are for the sake of social stability, and are not aimed at all religious people," Xiong said. "Every country in the world has been cracking down on religious extremists and terrorists."

It is no exception in the US. In March 2010, nine alleged members of a Christian militia group were charged for plotting to kill a police officer and slaughtering scores more by setting off a bomb at the funeral - all in hopes of setting off an uprising against the US government, Associated Press reported.

Experts said the US religious report ignores China's progress in religious freedom.

Apart from the major religions such as Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism, dozens of new religions have appeared in China in recent years, according to a report issued by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in 2011.

The new religions range from the Bahai Faith and Mormonism to the Guanyin Famen and Hailing School created by overseas Chinese as well as other religions originating in China.

According to the CASS, the country has 23 million Christians, 1.8 percent of the total population, and the number of followers has increased three times since 1993.