The Asia Times reports on the extension of liberalized regulations covering the foreign media in China:
When the new regulation was introduced two years ago, reform-minded officials hoped it would be extended after the Olympics. For example, Cai Yong, the former director of the SCIO, who helped draft the new rules, said, “Many years have passed since 1990, during which big changes have taken place in China as well as in the world. It is thus in accordance with the trend of the times to make revisions to the 1990 rules … If the provision regulation [for the Beijing Olympics] proves good in practice in next more than one year … I think it is unnecessary to make changes in a good policy.”
Analysts in China say the new rules have greatly strengthened CCP leaders’ self-confidence.
In early March, coverage of pro-independence Tibetan protests in Lhasa and demonstrations which dogged the Olympic flame relay in several countries angered Beijing. Some leaders blasted what they considered biased reports by some Western media.
