DHARAMSHALA:  Outgoing US ambassador to China Gary Locke on Thursday urged Beijing to improve its human rights record, in parting remarks just days before he is to leave the country, AFP news agency reported.

Rights are “universal” values that represent more than economic benefits, he said, speaking to journalists at the US embassy.

“We call on China to continue to improve its record in this area,” Locke said.

“There’s been great prosperity and an increase in the quality of life and the standard of living here in China,” he said.

“But human rights is more than economic prosperity and the economic conditions of people, but also fundamental universal rights — freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, the ability to practice one’s own religion.

“We’re very concerned about a recent increase in arrests of activists and journalists… and we very much are concerned about the arrests and detentions of people who are engaged in peaceful advocacy,” Locke was quoted as saying by AFP.

Ambassador Locke’s tenure is marked by his two visits to Tibet, which remained closed to foreign leaders and international media. He visited Tibetan areas in Ngaba in 2012, where majority of the self-immolation protests occurred, and capital Lhasa in 2013. In his meetings with the authorities, Locke lobbied for opening access to Tibet to foreign diplomats, journalists and tourists and stressed the “importance of preserving the Tibetan people’s cultural heritage, including its unique linguistic, religious and cultural traditions.”

He has repeatedly urged the Chinese leadership to engage in constructive dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama or his representatives to resolve tensions in Tibet.

“As Ambassador, I have witnessed China’s rich diversity first hand. I have also seen cases where heavy-handed policies deny basic freedoms to ethnic and religious minorities, including ethnic Uighurs, Tibetans and Mongolians, undermining the trust that binds diverse societies,” he said in his 2013 International Human Rights Day statement on 10 December.

“The United States calls on the Chinese government to protect the fundamental freedoms of all its citizens without discrimination. We also urge China’s leaders to engage in constructive dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives, as a means to reduce the tensions,” he said.

US senator Max Baucus, nominated as Washington’s next ambassador to China, said he would counsel the Chinese leadership to restart dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama without any preconditions to reduce the growing instability in Tibet.