According to media reports China announced that it will censor the Internet used by foreign media. A Beijing Games spokesman said “sufficient access to the Internet” would be provided, while confirming journalists would not be able to access websites connected to the Falun Gong spiritual movement, and others.
But journalists in Beijing have complained that they were unable to access Internet sites belonging to Amnesty International, the BBC, Deutsche Welle, Hong Kong based Apple Daily, and the Taiwan newspaper Liberty Times.
Australian Olympic Committee president and team chef de mission John Coates, who is also an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member, called the decision “disappointing if that’s the case, from an IOC point of view. That was a commitment for hosting these Games. I would think that (fellow Australian IOC member) Kevan Gosper in particular as chairman of the media commission, and (IOC president) Jacques Rogge will be having serious discussions with the Chinese authorities on this today”.
Gosper, who heads the IOC press commission, had said previously that Internet access to the media accredited for the Games would be “open”. He added “some IOC officials negotiated with the Chinese that some sensitive sites would be blocked on the basis they were not considered Games related”, saying, “I will speak with the Chinese authorities to advise them of the restraints and to see what their reaction is”.
Gosper said, “I regret that it now appears BOCOG has announced that there will be limitations on website access during Games time, and, while I understand that sensitive material not related to the Olympic Games continues to be a matter for the Chinese, I believe BOCOG and the IOC should have conveyed a clear message to the international media insofar as this affects Internet access at an earlier stage”.
Beijing Olympic organizers said censorship would not stop journalists from reporting on the Games. Sun Weide, a spokesman for Beijing 2008 told a news conference, “we are going to do our best to facilitate the foreign media to do their reporting work through the Internet”.
Liu Binjie, head of the Chinese Ministry of Press and Publications, said Wednesday that such criticisms defamed China “with stereotypes constructed from hearsay and prejudice in their mind, regardless of the reality”, reports Xinhua. Liu added that more news media regulations were being drawn up to replace those issued for the Olympics, which will expire in October.
Meanwhile the Associated Press (AP) reports Wednesday that two Iraqi rowers will be allowed to take part in the Games, according to the International Rowing Federation. The federation’s executive director Matt Smith said, “we called the IOC and asked if we could have the rowers back and the answer just came through. We’re very happy”.
The two rowers were allowed back in the men’s double sculls because their places had not been given to competitors from other countries. Smith said, “no one is kicked out”.
According to AP, Dezso Dobor, a spokesman for the International Weightlifting Federation, said an Iraqi competitor might be placed on standby should an athlete from another country drop out, but could not confirm it would happen at this stage.
