New York, July 30, 2008 - The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is
deeply disappointed by the International Olympic Committee's (IOC)
admission that China would not provide open Internet access at the Main
Press Center in Beijing despite earlier assurances to the contrary. Kevan
Gosper, chairman of the IOC's press commission, said today that the
organization had entered into an agreement that allows the Chinese
government to block access to Web sites of the government's choosing,
according to several international news reports.

"Having just met with IOC President Jacques Rogge to discuss press freedom
at the Olympic Games, I am disheartened by reports today that China not
only never intended to provide unfettered access to the Internet, but that
senior IOC officials were complicit in this arrangement," CPJ Chairman Paul
Steiger said today. "These reports reflect a major setback. The IOC must
address this very disturbing issue promptly and publicly."

Numerous international news organizations, including Reuters and The
Associated Press, quoted Gosper today as saying that he had learned IOC
officials had negotiated with the Chinese to allow some sites to be
blocked. The negotiations and the ensuing agreement were not disclosed
publicly until journalists discovered this week that certain Web sites were
being blocked inside the press center. For instance, reporters seeking to
cover an Amnesty International report critical of China's human rights
record found they could not access the organization's site. The websites of
numerous other human rights organizations are also affected.

"There is cause for anger here, cause for resentment, but mostly cause for
sadness and bewilderment that the IOC would sign away such a basic promise
as unrestricted Internet access in the Olympic press center," said Bob
Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator. "The IOC has not been able to ensure
that the Beijing Games would honor the Olympic principles of transparency."

IOC Communications Director Giselle Davies did not immediately return a
message left by CPJ seeking clarification and explanation for today's
development. The IOC Press Commission, which is headed by the Australian
Gosper, "is responsible for advising organizing committees for the Olympic
Games on the provision of the best possible working conditions for the
world's written and photographic press," according to the IOC's website.

In a story published Monday, The Wall Street Journal cited an April
interview with Rogge in which he said he had been assured by Beijing that
there "will be absolutely no censorship on the Internet" for accredited
journalists. Chinese officials sought to recast today such Olympic
promises. One spokesman, Sun Weide, said the Beijing organizers pledged
only "sufficient, convenient Internet access."

China promised "no restrictions on journalists in reporting on the Olympic
Games" in its official bid to host the 2008 Games-a pledge reiterated by
Wang Wei, a vice president of the Beijing organizing committee, the day
before the IOC named Beijing as host city. The IOC confirmed the promise in
its evaluation of competing cities' bids, saying that "it was confirmed to
the Commission that there will be no restrictions on media reporting."

Since winning the bid, Chinese officials have failed to make good on their
media pledge, and the IOC has done little to hold them accountable, CPJ
found in its June special report, Falling Short. One of the few tangible
changes-a loosening of travel and interview restrictions on foreign
journalists-was widely ignored by government officials during Tibetan
ethnic unrest in March, CPJ found.

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, non-profit organization that works to
safeguard press freedom worldwide.

For further information on violations of Olympics-related media freedom,
see: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/95166/