Extra press freedoms granted in run up to Beijing Olympics

Restrictions on foreign reporters covering the 2008 Olympics would be loosened and extra freedoms be given to the Hong Kong and Macau media according to mainland officials.

A "free and liberal" (放任自由) approach would be taken under in the new rules (北京奧運會及其籌備期間外國記者在華採訪規定) governing coverage in the mainland by foreign reporters before and during the Olympics from 1 January 2007 onwards, the State Council on 1 December announced.

Sources said the move was for the new generation of Chinese leaders to use Olympics as an opportunity to "test the water" that may pave the way for a post-2008 review on press freedom.

One of the major changes is a provision that allows foreign journalists to conduct interviews with any person or organ in the mainland without government permission.

Li Xiguang (李希光), deputy dean of Tsinghua University's School of Journalism and Communications, was quoted as saying that loosening of regulations for news reporting during Olympics has been an international convention. It is a move that must be taken by Beijing which is wise to do it this way at this time, he added.

Noting that the liberal approach may cease after a two-year trial period, Cui Baoguo (崔保國), a professor of the faculty in Tsinghua, was confident that the authorities and society would become more tolerant about the impact of press freedom and the approach may become normal and prevail even after the party's 17th Plenary session.

Meanwhile, quoting an unnamed official of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) (國務院港澳事務辦公室) on 9 December, South China Morning Post reported that HKMAO's liaison department and other related central agencies are finalizing rules that would allow HK and Macau journalists to "travel and report more freely across most of the country during the Games".

Yang Qing (楊青), deputy director of the All-China Journalists' Association (中華全國新聞工作者協會)'s Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan Affairs Office – a semi-official body overseeing journalists from the three places to cover in the mainland – did not specify if such rules would apply to the Tibet and Xinjiang regions.

Previous regulations came into effect since the 4 June 1989 crackdown, requiring all reporters to apply to cover any activity in the mainland and that the coverage should not go beyond the scope outlined in the application form. Since 2002, HK and Macau journalists have been able to be mainland-based given prior approval from local government offices to report on issues outside their city of residence.