China vows to stand by Games pledges

President Hu Jintao said China would stand by pledges made when it was awarded the Olympics as Games officials deflected fire over internet censorship on Friday by lifting restrictions.

Mr Hu told a select group of reporters that the Games, one week away, would have an enduring benefit for China and leave a positive "spiritual legacy".

"The Chinese government and the Chinese people have been working in real earnest to honour the commitments made to the international community," the normally media-shy Mr Hu, who doubles as Communist Party chief, said.

Mr Hu's comments came as both China and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) were under fire from critics who say neither has lived up to pledges the country made to improve its rights record and lift Internet censorship for the Olympics.

IOC press chief Kevan Gosper said earlier this week that some IOC officials cut a deal to let China block sensitive websites to the media, despite repeated promises of a free Internet, but on Friday officials backtracked, saying once again there would be unrestricted access.

"The issue has been solved," said IOC vice-president Gunilla Lindberg.

"The IOC Coordination Commission and BOCOG met last night and agreed," she said, referring to Beijing's Olympic organisers. "Internet use will be just like in any Olympics."

The issue of internet censorship was only the latest of a series of issues, from human rights, to reporting restrictions, to China's policies in Darfur and Tibet, that have prompted criticism of its Communist leadership.

Although internet access will be free for reporters for the period of the Games, it is still tightly controlled for the rest of the country.

But Mr Hu made a plea not to politicise a Games that many had hoped would lead the country of 1.3 billion on a path towards greater political reform to match years of breakneck growth that has made it the world's fourth-largest economy.