Bao Tong ordered not to talk to media

The most senior party official jailed over the pro-democracy movement has been ordered not to talk to foreign media.

The order on Bao Tong effectively re-imposes a condition of his probation, which ended only this week.

The South China Morning Post's Jasper Becker was among reporters who interviewed the former aide to Zhao Ziyang on Wednesday.

Mr Bao said last night: 'I am extremely sorry. Although under Chinese law I am supposed to have freedom of speech and I am very willing to express myself frankly, I am not willing to see you have any trouble.' Mr Bao said he gave the interviews to test whether the authorities would respect constitutional guarantees on freedom of expression.