IOC Expresses Concern About Government Restrictions on News Media

International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokeswoman Giselle Davies said that the IOC has expressed concern about news media conditions in China, according to a November 13 Associated Press (AP) report available on the Mainichi Daily News Web site. The IOC expressed this reservation in an otherwise positive assessment that was not released to the public. The assessment evidently said that the Chinese government is either on track or ahead of schedule on commitments to the IOC, with 1,000 days remaining before the Olympic Games begin in 2008. The AP report cited an anonymous IOC official as saying that, among other measures sought in talks with the IOC, the Beijing 2008 Olympic Organizing Committee (BOOC) sought authorization to ask about the religious beliefs of foreign reporters on accreditation applications for the 2008 Games. The IOC is said to have rejected the proposal as contrary to conventional practice.

Jiang Xiaoyu, who currently serves as both Deputy Director of the Beijing Municipal Communist Party Central Committee Propaganda Department and Vice Chairman of the BOOC, according to his official biography, told a news conference that "foreign journalists do not have any reason to worry," and that "during the Games and also a month before and after, foreign journalists will not be restricted in their work in reporting on the Olympic Games," according to a November 11 Agence France-Presse report available on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Web site. Jiang also said, "if our Chinese rules conflict with the international rules, we would readjust our standards."

Jiang has said previously that the BOOC would not accept interviews with international news media by telephone, because the reporters might represent the Falun Gong spiritual movement. In September and October 2003, international news media, including the Associated Press (via the Washington Times), London Telegraph, and South China Morning Post, reported that the Ministry of Public Security had published an "Olympic Security English" manual for police which included a section entitled "How to Stop Illegal News Coverage." The manual contained the following sample dialog:

Policeman: What news are you permitted to cover?
Foreigner: The Olympic Games.
Policeman: But Falun Gong has nothing to do with the Games.
Foreigner: What does that matter?
Policeman: You're a sports reporter. You should only cover the games.
Foreigner: But I'm interested in Falun Gong.
Policeman: It's beyond the limit of your coverage and illegal. As a foreign reporter in China you should obey China law and do nothing against your status.
Foreigner: Oh, I see. May I go now?
Policeman: No. Come with us to the Administration Division of Entry and Exit of Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.
Foreigner: What for?
Policeman: To clear up this matter.