Granting unfettered access?

Saturday, Aug. 2, 2008 | 2:04 a.m.

Seven years ago, when China was awarded the summer Olympics that will be held in Beijing beginning Friday, the communist nation promised that foreign reporters would have as much freedom there as they enjoyed while covering prior Olympic games.

This year, China threatened to go back on its word and restrict media coverage to little more than the sporting events. The country feared that embarrassing coverage of Tibet, human rights violations and other issues would detract from the way it wanted to portray itself as the host nation. Then, last month, a Chinese government spokesman said his country would give the reporters the access they desired outside the Olympic venues, including Tiananmen Square.

But China has gone back on its word, at least as far as computers are concerned.

This time China has refused to unblock access to certain Web sites in the Main Press Center where reporters will work, the Associated Press reported Friday. China relented to international pressure this week when it unblocked access to some Web pages, such as those dealing with Amnesty International. But the host nation continues to block others, meaning reporters writing stories will not be able to search Internet pages such as many that deal with Tibet and those tied to the banned spiritual movement Falun Gong. That is simply absurd.

We urge the International Olympic Committee, which awarded the games to China, to use its clout to convince the host nation that it must provide foreign journalists with unfettered access to the Internet, with no exceptions. Anything short of that may turn these Olympics into a charade that China will come to regret.