BEIJING (AP) _ Relaxed rules for foreign journalists that were enacted ahead of the Beijing Olympics will expire next month, China said Tuesday, without detailing whether reporters will once again face more restrictive work conditions.
China loosened its decades-old controls on foreign journalists _ including requiring government permission for all interviews and travel _ at the beginning of 2007.
The changes were part of the country's pledge to increase media freedom, which helped Beijing bid to host the 2008 Olympics.
``The relevant Olympic regulation expires on Oct. 17. I think when the time comes, we will tell everyone what the arrangement will be,'' Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said. ``But I want to reiterate to everyone that the spirit of opening up will continue.''
Jiang added: ``Of course, we also hope everyone can abide by the laws and regulations of China and report China in an objective and fair way.''
Despite the loosened rules, foreign journalists and monitoring groups complained that Chinese authorities still harassed and occasionally detained journalists in the run-up to the Olympics.
``The temporary ones were very poorly enforced. Foreign journalists were regularly harassed. But those temporary regulations, as flawed as they were, laid a foundation for the Chinese government to accept that journalists should be free to report,'' said Phelim Kine, Asia researcher for New York-based Human Rights Watch.
The looser rules will expire after the Paralympic Games for disabled athletes that Beijing is currently hosting. Jiang's statement was the most explicit comment yet that Beijing intends to allow the current regulations to expire.
A Chinese official had hinted last December that the new reporting rules could be extended.
Vincent Brossel, a spokesman for the Paris-based rights group Reporters Without Borders, said there was no reason for the Chinese government to put off announcing what kinds of regulations will replace the Olympics reporting rules.
``This announcement is not very clear, it said China is still open but at the same time there is nothing sure,'' he said.
``We have a feeling they are doing a type of blackmailing of the foreign media,'' Brossel said, ``'If you want to keep the freedom of movement and freedom of interview, you have to be nice to us.'''
The relaxed rules never applied to Chinese journalists. The government's grip on the domestic media remains tight, dictating what can be reported and limiting any open discussion about democracy, religious freedom or material considered politically subversive.
The Beijing-based Foreign Correspondents' Club of China said it logged more than 300 reports of interference in reporters' work since the rule went into effect, including beatings and intimidation in Beijing and other places.
There were at least 30 cases of reporting interference since the Olympic media center opened on July 25, the FCCC said.
Two Associated Press photographers were roughed up by plainclothes officers three days before the end of the Beijing Games. They were detained while taking pictures of protesters attempting to hang pro-Tibet banners and flags near an Olympic venue.
A high-ranking Beijing Olympic official said police believed the photographers, who were wearing official Olympic credentials, were protesters. The photographers were taken to a nearby building where they were questioned and released. Police confiscated six memory cards but returned only four.Add your content here