Media free to roam in China during 2008 Games

Foreign media will be free to travel around China and enjoy uncensored access to the internet during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, organisers said yesterday.

Non-Chinese journalists currently need permission to move around the country, while websites containing material considered sensitive by the Chinese government are frequently blocked.

"We have no restrictions on travel for foreign journalists in China," Sun Weijia, BOCOG's head of media operations, told the Olympic World Press Briefing yesterday.

"So once they get the visa, they can travel anywhere in China."

Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG), said detailed new regulations on the operation of foreign media would be put into place early in 2007.

"The latest legislation is going through the necessary procedures," Liu said. "These new rules will consider the norms of the past Games and the needs of the media.

"The Chinese government will honour our promises and commitments made during our bid to host the Games."

Media services head Li Jingbo said the internet service provided to news services at the Games would be uncensored.

Organisers also told the briefing that foreign media would have access to the Chinese team, although journalists would have to apply three weeks in advance to interview local Olympians before the Games.