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Free press campaigners protest at China block Reuters Five press freedom campaigners from France who said they were denied visas to China unfurled a huge flag depicting handcuffs arranged as Olympic rings in front of Beijing's liaison office in Hong Kong on Monday. The protesters, from media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, had originally planned their international human rights day demonstration to take place in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, but on Friday they were barred from visiting China and two said they were blacklisted. "We have eight months before the Olympic Games start to do something to improve the situation. One of the things we ask the Chinese authorities is to release journalist prisoners," said Robert Menard, secretary-general of the group. The Games begin on August 8, 2008. The rights group sent an open letter to International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge last week detailing what it described as abuse of journalists and accusing him of allowing it to happen by remaining silent.
China responded by reiterating that foreign journalists would be welcome to cover next year's Beijing Olympics "in a fair and objective way". A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said the Paris-based group had "consistently attacked China".
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