A mainland official has reiterated China's promise to allow full media freedom during the 2008 Olympics, saying it will abide by international practices.
Bocog vice-president Jiang Xiaoyu told a news conference in Beijing that China was studying international norms and the practices of previous Games 'to facilitate the foreign media'. He said: 'Where international norms differ from our practice we will abide by international and Olympic norms.'
But Mr Jiang added all foreign media coming to China 'must also abide by China's laws and regulations'.
On Monday, the Foreign Correspondents Club of China and Paris-based Reporters Without Borders issued separate statements criticising continued harassment of the media in China, and called on Beijing to ease restrictions in the run-up to the Olympics.