China to Eliminate 'Relaxed Reporting Rules'

Now, if we all needed yet another oxymoron coming from the Chinese regime, this will do just fine.

Beijing announced that the "relaxed rules" for foreign journalists that were supposed to be in place during the Games will expire in October. Who said the rules were relaxed in the first place? Can we just give these bureaucrats a reminder of how well their rules worked?

The AP note reads a little too close to the government's news release, and lets in parts such as this:

The changes, which allowed reporters to interview Chinese citizens without government approval, were part of the country's pledge to increase media freedom, which helped Beijing be picked as host of the 2008 Olympics.

It did help China get the Games all right, but whether the regime fulfilled its promises is an entirely different matter: they did not.

Fortunately, the AP article does mention the monitoring of the Foreign Correspondents Club of China, who had their eyes open during the entire ordeal.