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China to ban German newspapers from Olympic Village

As part of their attempt to keep a stranglehold on information during the Summer Games in Beijing, the Chinese authorities are reportedly planning to ban German newspapers from the Deutsches Haus in the Olympic Village.

Published: 1 August 2008 11:53 CEST

China to ban German newspapers from Olympic Village

Performers in front of Beijing's National Stadium. Photo: DPA

The German Olympic Association (DOSB) said on Friday that it was negotiating with Chinese officials over the matter. “The talks are continuing,” DOSB spokesman Gerd Graus told German news agency DDP in Beijing.

Gaus said he was optimistic that German athletes would have access to German newspapers with only one day of delay during the Olymplics.

DDP reported on Thursday that the Norbert Lammert, president of the German Bundestag, had written to the DOSB to express his “disbelief” that China would attempt to censor information in the German facilities.

“That Chinese censors would try to control the flow of information for German participants and their guests is completely inacceptable for me,” Lammert wrote in a letter made available to DDP.

The Association of German Newspaper Publishers (VDZ) also lambasted the Chinese authorities, calling upon the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to put pressure on Beijing to lift its censorship restrictions on German papers.

“This is a blatant breach of the principle of freedom of press and is in clear violation of the assurances made by the International Olympic Committee ahead of the event,” said VDZ official Wolfgang Fürstner in Berlin on Friday.

Fürstner also criticized the recent censoring of internet sites in the Olympic press centre. “TV, radio and print journalists must have the ability to work on site without restrictions,” he said.

China derides Copenhagen democracy meet as 'political farce'

Demonstrators gathered outside the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday. Photo: Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix

The Copenhagen Democracy Summit was held Monday and Tuesday in the Danish capital and organised by the Alliance of Democracies, an organisation targeted by Beijing sanctions in March and founded by former NATO boss Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

In addition to Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and Hong Kong democracy activist Nathan Law, Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod also participated in the forum by video link, which Beijing said violated “the one-China principle.”

“This summit is a political farce,” the Chinese embassy in Denmark wrote in a statement published on Tuesday. “Inviting those who advocate Taiwan and Hong Kong ‘independence’ to the meeting violates the one-China principle and interferes in China’s internal affairs,” it said.

“Some hypocritical western politicians are good at meddling in other countries’ internal affairs and creating divisions and confrontation in the name of ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom’. They are bound to fail,” it added.

At the conference on Monday, Kofod said it was “deplorable” that Beijing had imposed sanctions on 10 European individuals and organisations in response to EU sanctions on Xinjiang officials over their actions against the Uyghur Muslim minority.

Like most countries, Denmark applies the one-China principle — under which Beijing bars other countries from having simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taipei — though it does maintain relations with Taiwan.

Cut off politically from the rest of China since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the territory is self-governing but is not recognised by
the United Nations.

Beijing considers Taiwan a rebel province that will one day return under its control, by force if necessary.

China’s sabre-rattling has increased considerably over the past year, with fighter jets and nuclear-capable bombers breaching Taiwan’s air defence zone on a near-daily basis.

“Our government is fully aware of the threats to regional security, and is actively enhancing our national defence capabilities to protect our
democracy,” Tsai told the conference in a video address on Monday. US President Joe Biden is expected to present his China strategy soon, as
calls mount for him to publicly commit to defending Taiwan militarily in the event of a Chinese attack.

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