Beijing Winter Olympics committee denies allegations of blocking foreign media: Report

Beijing’s Winter Olympics organising committee has dismissed the accusations that foreign media personnel have been blocked in their attempts to cover preparations for the upcoming Games. The latest clarification by the Beijing Winter games 2022 organisers came after on 2 November the Foreign Correspondents Club of China (FCCC) accused the Chinese authorities of “continuously stymying” attempts by the foreign journalists to cover the games which will be starting in China’s capital in February. 

Lambasting the organisers, FCCC in a statement alleged a pattern of authorities denying or not addressing the requests for access along with harassing and abusing the journalists. The club also contained several accounts of specific instances from foreign media personnel including verbal abuse and freezing-out of a journalist who called for human rights boycott in the report, as per The Guardian. 

“Our members’ repeated inquiries towards the Beijing Winter Olympics organising committee [Bocog] on how international media can report on the Games have been met with conflicting answers or neglected completely,” the FCCC said.

It added, “FCCC members report spending weeks trying to obtain contact details for Bocog media facilitators, only to receive dismissive or inaccurate information from them.”

In response to FCCC’s allegations, Beijing Winter Olympics organising committee (Bocog) told The Guardian that China “has never recognised the organisation.” It further told the media outlet, “What this organisation said is inconsistent with the facts and cannot represent the true voice of foreign journalists in China.” Bocog also said that it “guaranteed the freedom of reporting” by international media on the Games in line with “relevant Chinese policies” and on the proviso journalists adhered to “relevant Chinese laws, regulations and anti-epidemic policies.”

Bocog made several pledges answering FCCC’s calls

As per The Guardian report, Bocog’s statement made several commitments that appeared to answer the calls made by FCCC earlier this month. The Beijing Winter Games' organising committee pledged to dedicate media liaison desk during the Games and added that the foreign media will be invited to domestic press events. It reportedly said that depending on the situation of the epidemic there would also be three press conferences for foreign media organised with the speed skating stadium, Olympic village and sports centre. 

“As the competition unfolds, we will also increase the registration quota of foreign media in the test competition,” Bocog said, as per the report. The statement added that Bocog has “always welcomed” media attention and the reports of foreign journalists on the preparations of the Games and that it had provided good services. The committee denied there was “so-called ‘inadequate information disclosure’”. Bocog in its defence also informed the delivery of 28 issues of an Olympics newsletter to at least 183 media outlets. However, it did not address the calls by FCCC to approve the long-pending visas of foreign journalists following the expulsion of dozens of them in 2020.

Image: AP