Beijing Games organizers again promise press freedom

Chinese officials earlier today reiterated their pledge to allow out-of-town reporters to do their jobs while covering the Beijing Games.

"The Chinese government will abide by the Olympics' reporting rules seriously and completely, and try its best to facilitate the reporting," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a regular briefing here.

The New China news agency said that his comments were in response to a foreign reporter's question on how China has dealt with complaints from media companies that that have paid a premium for media rights to the Games -- but have been unable to get the kind of access that they want.

Liu said that relevant press and security departments are accommodating reporters' requests. "We think some requests are reasonable, but we must accommodate both the need for security and journalists' need to report."

Speaking of security: as 08-08-08 nears, China's preparations for the Games "look more like a military deployment than arrangements for a sporting event," according to a report in today's Los Angeles Times by staff reporter Barbara Demick.

"The government is installing surface-to-air missiles near the stadiums and setting up checkpoints to stop out-of-town cars from entering Beijing,'" Demick writes. "It has enlisted 110,000 security personnel and more than 1 million citizens to protect the Games against what it says are credible terrorist threats."

-- Greg Johnson

Photo: Chinese paramilitary police rehearse a ceremony near the Bird's Nest National Stadium at the Olympic Green in Beijing earlier today. Credit: Ng Han Guan/Associated Press Photo