Against the backdrop of some provocative steps by China, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said there was a "certain amount of assertiveness" by China lately, which had to be taken note of.

In a hard-hitting statement, he also sought to ridicule China's growth, suggesting that it was achieved by the "writ of the ruling group in an undemocratic set-up" while ignoring values like respect for human rights and multi-ethnic and multi-cultural rights.

"There is certain amount of assertiveness on the part of Chinese. I don't fully understand the reasons for it. That has to be taken note of," Singh said during an interaction at the US Council for Foreign Relations here.

He did not elaborate but the statement assumes significance considering that China has recently been involved in some provocative steps like issuing visas to residents of Jammu and Kashmir on stapled sheets of paper rather than passport, to send out a message that the state was not a part of India.

Besides, China has objected to the Prime Minister's visit to Arunachal Pradesh, is participating in projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir despite India's objections and mentioned Indo-Pak relations in Joint Statement with the US.