http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/30/asia/olymedia.php
IOC agrees to Internet blocking at the Games By Andrew Jacobs Wednesday, July 30, 2008 BEIJING: The Chinese government has confirmed what journalists arriving at the lavishly outfitted media center here have suspected: Contrary to previous assurances by Olympic and government officials, the Internet will be censored during the upcoming Games. The International Olympic Committee quietly agreed to some of the limitations, according to a press official, Kevin Gosper, the Reuters news agency reported. Gosper told Reuters on Wednesday that he had only just learned of the agreement. Sandrine Tonge, the IOC media relations coordinator, said the organization would press the Chinese authorities to reconsider the limits. Since the Olympic Village press center opened on Friday, reporters have been unable to access scores of Web pages - among them those that discuss Tibetan succession, Taiwanese independence, the violent crackdown of the protests in Tiananmen Square and the sites of Amnesty International, Radio Free Asia and several Hong Kong newspapers known for their freewheeling political discourse. A government spokesman initially suggested that the problems originated with the site hosts, but he acknowledged Wednesday that journalists would not have unfettered Internet use during the Games, which begin Aug. 8. "It has been our policy to provide the media with convenient and sufficient access to the Internet," said Sun Weide, the chief spokesman for the Beijing Olympics organizing committee. "I believe our policy will not affect reporters' coverage of the Olympic Games." In the past, both the Chinese government and the International Olympic Committee have suggested that the 20,000 journalists covering the Games would have full Internet access. As recently as two weeks ago, Jacques Rogge, the International Olympic committee president, proclaimed to Agence France-Presse: "For the first time, foreign media will be able to report freely and publish their work freely in China. There will be no censorship on the Internet." The revelation that politically sensitive Web pages will be off limits to foreign reporters comes at a time of growing skepticism about the government's commitment to pledges it made when it won the right to stage the Games in 2001: that it would improve its record on human rights and provide athletes with clean air. Despite a litany of measures that include restricting private vehicles and shuttering factories, Beijing's skyline in recent days has been shrouded in a thick haze, prompting some hang-wringing over whether the government can deliver on its promise of a "blue skies" Olympics. And in recent months, human rights advocates have accused Beijing of stepping up the detention and surveillance of those it fears could disrupt the Games. Concerns about free access to the Internet in Beijing had intensified Tuesday, when Western journalists working at the Main Press Center in Beijing said they could not get to Amnesty International's Web site to see the group's critical report on China's failure to improve its human rights record ahead of the Olympics. Jonathan Watts, president of the Foreign Correspondents Club of China, said he was disappointed that Beijing had failed to honor its agreement to temporarily remove the elaborate firewall that prevents ordinary Chinese from fully using the Internet. "Obviously if reporters can't access all the sites they want to see, they can't do their jobs," he said. "Unfortunately such restrictions are normal for reporters in China but the Olympics were supposed to be different." Air improves in Beijing Beijing's air pollution showed improvement Wednesday, with a city environmental official saying that restrictions on cars and factories were having the desired effect in cleaning up the air for the Olympics, The Associated Press reported Wednesday from Beijing. The air pollution index fell to 44 on Wednesday, less than half what it was a day earlier, and the lowest since July 20, when drastic measures took effect to improve air quality before the Games. The curbs included pulling half the city's 3.3 million vehicles off the roads, halting most construction and closing some factories in Beijing and nearby provinces. "The daily data since July 20 shows an improvement in air quality," Du Shaozhong, deputy director of Beijing's Environmental Protection Bureau, said in an interview. "It reflects the results since we restricted traffic and stopped industry and construction." He added: "That's why we say the measures have been effective." Du said that seven of the past 11 days have met the national standard for "good" air quality, while four did not. A reading below 50 is considered good and 51 to 100 is considered moderate, Du's bureau said. But critics assert that moderate levels are still above the World Health Organization's guidelines for healthy air.
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