China seeks to reassure on Olympic media freedom

BEIJING (Reuters) - Journalists who come to China to cover next month's Beijing Olympics will be given freedom to report and can complain formally if they encounter problems, state media on Thursday quoted a senior official as saying.

Rights groups lambasted China this week saying Beijing had breached pledges to allow full media freedom and complained of harassment and restrictions on foreign reporters.

But Li Changchun, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, the innermost ring of power, sought to offer assurances Beijing's media freedom pledge would be respected.

"He said officials would effectively implement regulations that ensured foreign journalists would be allowed the freedom to report," the official Xinhua news agency paraphrased Li as saying during a visit to the media centre for non-accredited reporters.

"If you are dissatisfied, you can file your complaint directly to Liu Qi, president of Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad," he added.

"I hope you could truly and fully cover the event and tell the world (about) a true China," Li said.

As part of Beijing's bid to host the Games it promised temporary regulations to allow complete media freedoms, though the state's grip over domestic media has not eased.

Around 25,000 foreign journalists are expected to cover the Beijing Games.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

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