asked Her Majesty's Government:

What representations they are making to the Government of China about international press access during the Beijing Olympics. [HL2910]

We regularly raise our concerns with the Chinese Government over media freedom, including during the visits of my right honourable friends the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary to China earlier this year and at the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in January 2008. We welcomed the media regulations implemented in China on 1 January 2007 for foreign correspondents that temporarily lift restrictions on travel and on the requirement to seek official permission for interviews up to and during the Olympics. We hope that they will remain in place after the Olympics and be extended to China's domestic journalists, and have urged China to consider this. We believe it is in China's interests for foreign media to have proper access to what is happening in China and we encourage the Chinese authorities to ensure adequate access for media during the Olympics.