A new report from an international human rights organization takes aim at China, claiming the nation has failed to live up to its pledge to improve human rights ahead of the Beijing Olympics.
The report from Amnesty International, released just 10 days ahead of the opening ceremonies, says China's human rights record has actually worsened as the Games approach.
"By continuing to persecute and punish those who speak out for human rights, the Chinese authorities have lost sight of the promises they made when they were granted the Games seven years ago," said Roseann Rife, Asia-Pacific Deputy Director at Amnesty International in a release.
"The Chinese authorities are tarnishing the legacy of the Games. They must release all imprisoned peaceful activists, allow foreign and national journalists to report freely and make further progress towards the elimination of the death penalty."
The report "The Olympics Countdown: Broken Promises," also says China has failed to live up to its promise to allow greater media freedom. China made the pledge when it was first granted the 2008 Olympics.
As of Tuesday, reporters working in China were no longer able to access the Amnesty website where the report was published.
Other sites were also blocked in China, according to the Amnesty report, including The China Debate, Taiwan's Liberty Times, and the Chinese versions of the BBC and Germany's Deutsche Welle.
'Complete media freedom'
"This flies in the face of official promises to ensure 'complete media freedom' for the Games," states the Amnesty report.
"Internet control and censorship is increasing as the Olympics approach. Many other sites, including several reporting on HIV/AIDS issues in Beijing, have been targeted."
China, however, said Tuesday it had not blocked the Amnesty site.
"We know the government routinely censors a lot of Internet sites," CTV's Beijing Bureau Chief Steve Chao reported Tuesday.
"The government admitted today it censors such sites as the Falun Gong group, that they consider a cult. But they said they did not censor the Amnesty International website and that they were looking into it. That is something a lot of people dispute."
Human rights reporting
Amnesty claims foreign journalists are also being prevented from reporting on some sensitive issues, including speaking to those who have suffered human rights abuses.
"The Foreign Correspondents Club of China (FCCC) documented approximately 180 incidents of reporting disruptions in 2007. This has now increased to 260," Amnesty states.
Chinese journalists are also under severe restrictions, Amnesty says, working under a "climate of censorship" and banned from reporting on issues that could cause embarrassment for China.
Many of those who have broken those restrictions, Amnesty says, are currently in prison.
"Housing rights activist Ye Guozhu continues to serve his four-year sentence for 'picking quarrels and stirring up trouble' because of his opposition to the seizure and demolition of property to make way for new construction projects for next month's Olympic Games," states the report.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao rejected Tuesday's report, saying that Amnesty is biased and people "those who know China will not agree with this report."
"We hope Amnesty can take off the tinted glasses it has worn for many years and see China in an objective way," he said during a regularly scheduled news conference.
The International Olympic Committee, meanwhile, is investigating the claims that websites like Amnesty's remain blocked in China - which would be a violation of China's Olympic pledge. But the IOC says on the whole, it has seen human rights reforms.
Pollution progress
Beijing has also been accused of breaking environmental promises in the past few weeks. Since last Thursday, pollution levels have been twice the acceptable guidelines set by the World Health Organization, Chao said.
"Yesterday Greenpeace came out to say countries should really be concerned for the health of their athletes. A lot of athletes are saying their athletes will not be forced to compete if they feel their health is being jeopardized. So there's a lot of concern about the pollution."
On Tuesday, however, there seemed to be some progress. After days of dark, hazy skies, rain and wind helped clear out some of the smog, raising hopes that pollution levels would improve before the Games kick-off.
Officials have taken drastic measures, including pulling half of Beijing's 3.3 million cars off the road and shutting down hundreds of factories in the area. But until now the efforts seemed to make little difference.
An emergency plan is in the works if conditions worsen before the Olympics, officials said. Beijing could pull more cars from the roads -- up to 90 per cent of the total -- and shut down more factories.
Du Shaozhong, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, told reporters that the air quality in July was much better than in the previous year.
Du said pollutants have been reduced by 15 to 20 per cent since July 1 and said there were 25 days of clean air in July.
