Sensitive sites blocked at press centre

IN BEIJING - FIRST, it was the air pollution.
Now, the ever-growing numbers of journalists in town to cover the
Beijing Olympics are taking the organisers to task over the blocking of websites critical of China.
Internet censorship is routine in China, but what upset the media was that the restrictions were not lifted for the Games' Main Press Centre (MPC), a move which journalists said reneged on Beijing's earlier promise of unfettered online access.
Yesterday, a press conference on cultural preservation was hijacked by reporters who peppered Chinese officials with repeated questions on why they could not access the websites for rights group Amnesty International, the Falungong sect and the Tibetan government-in-exile.
One reporter also wanted to know if Chinese security officials were monitoring e-mail and other information being sent from the MPC.
Mr Sun Weide, a spokesman for the Beijing Olympics organisers, stuck to a vaguely worded assurance that journalists would be given 'sufficient and convenient Internet access'.
'Your reporting on the Games will not be affected,' he maintained.
He also suggested that websites related to the Falungong were blocked because the sect had been outlawed by the Chinese government.
Unappeased, reporters asked him why other websites, such as those for Amnesty International and Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper, were also blocked, although these organisations were not outlawed.
The spokesman merely maintained that he did not have information about why specific websites were blocked.
Senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) members said in April that China had given assurances that the 21,500 media personnel accredited for the Games would be given unrestricted Internet access during the duration of the Games from Aug 8 to 24.
Yesterday, IOC press chief Kevan Gosper said that the IOC had cut a deal with China to allow the blocking of sensitive websites from media during the Beijing Games.
'I...now understand that some IOC officials negotiated with the Chinese that some sensitive sites would be blocked on the basis that they were not considered Games-related,' the Australian told Reuters.
He said: 'I regret that it now appears that BOCOG (the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games) has announced that there will be limitations on website access during Games time.