Kyodo World Service, August 3rd, 2007
China defended Friday its implementation of new regulations that
relax rules for media coverage in the country, saying the regulations
are giving the international press greater access, and adding that
glitches in the initial stages of application are inevitable.
The comments by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao,
reported in the state-run China Daily, comes at a time when China's
pledge to grant open press coverage during the Beijing Olympics has
become a focus ahead of Aug. 8, which marks exactly a year until the
start of the games.
''There have been fewer complaints from the foreign media,'' Liu
was quoted as saying in an interview with the newspaper. ''The
regulations have helped create a better environment for foreign
journalists.''
China lifted travel restrictions for foreign correspondents from
January 2007 to October 2008, marking a change from regulations that
required foreign reporters to seek local government permission
whenever they traveled away from their home base for coverage.
Liu said it was unrealistic to expect that the new regulations
would be implemented without problems, according to the daily.
''The regulations' full implementation needs close coordination
among different government bodies and it takes time for local
governments and organizations to fully understand the terms of the
regulations,'' he was quoted as saying.
A survey by the main foreign journalists' association in Beijing
said earlier in the week that China has yet to live up to its pledge
to grant foreign reporters complete freedom to report in the country.
Forty percent of the 163 respondents to the survey by the
Foreign Correspondents Club of China said they had encountered some
form of interference during their reporting activities this year.
While 43 percent believe reporting conditions have improved in
China, 67 percent feel Beijing has yet to meet its promise to grant
international media freedom to report in the country, according to
the survey.
