Bejing Warned It Must Allow Open Internet Access During Olympics

The International Olympic Committee has warned Beijing that its contract to host the Olympics also requires it to provide open access to the Internet, reports Reuters.

The contract requires that the 30,000 journalists expected to attend the Olympics have the same freedom to report on the Games as other host cities have provided.

Though China regularly censors citizen access to the Web -- foreign media sites often are blocked -- IOC coordination commission vice chairman Kevan Gosper said he was confident the Chinese government would live up to its obligations under the agreement, reports The Associated Press on BBC News. He noted that failing to do so would reflect poorly on the country.

The Chinese government is undertaking sweeping changes as it prepares to host the Games, including enacting a ban on smoking in public, reports Times Online.