Did Press Freedom Win a Medal?
This paper addresses the future of foreign journalism in China in the wake of the new liberalizing press regulations created for the 2008 Olympics which were made permanent in October, 2008. Despite hope for a more open foreign press in China, the paper argues that the new regulations as applied have largely institutionalized the existing reality. Part I discusses human rights instruments relevant to freedom of the press in order to determine whether China’s current regulations facially comport with international human rights law. Part II of this paper discusses China’s historical treatment of foreign journalists and analyzes the substance of the new regulations. Part III looks at how the Chinese government applied the new regulations to foreign reporters at the Olympics. Part IV evaluates the new regulations and engages briefly with the issue that China’s press regulations still do not satisfy the demands of Western journalists.
