International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge said yesterday the IOC did not strike a deal with Chinese authorities to censor Internet access during the Olympic Games.
“The conditions you were working in on Tuesday were not good,” Rogge told reporters, referring to the day when Internet blocks were discovered.
However, Rogge stopped short of offering an apology.
“I am not going to make an apology for something that the IOC is not responsible for. We are not running the Internet in China,” Rogge said.
Meanwhile, IOC press official Kevan Gosper said yesterday the IOC and the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee (BOCOG) had set up a working group to examine which censored sites could be opened up to reporters.
Gosper described the process as a “work in progress.”
Earlier in the week, Gosper, an IOC member for more than 30 years, said that senior organizers had cut a deal with Chinese authorities to block some Web sites.
IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies yesterday brushed off criticism that the IOC had backtracked on requiring Beijing not to censor Web access for reporters.
One reporter quoted Rogge as saying “foreign media will be able to report freely and publish their work freely in China. There will be no censorship on the Internet.”
Davies said that Rogge, who is Belgian, may have not been precise when he spoke because he was using English, which is not his native tongue.
“I think we are trying to hang on every single word often spoken by people whose mother tongue isn’t English. Let me be clear again: The IOC would like to see open access for the media to be able to do their job,” Davies said.
Numerous times over the last several years, Chinese officials and high-ranking IOC members said there would be no censorship on the Internet for accredited journalists covering the games.
Chinese authorities have repeatedly said reporting would be “free and unfettered.”
In 2001, when China won the right to host the games, BOCOG Executive Vice President Wang Wei (王偉) was widely quoted as saying: “We will give the media complete freedom to report when they come to China.”
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old