Newsweek has an interview with China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, in which he answers questions about human rights and Tibet.

The magazine asked the Prime Minister, who was in New York last week, about claims by some people that the Olympics had led to more repression in terms of human rights. His reply:

" By hosting the Olympics, China has become more open. Anyone without biases will see that. Freedom of speech and of media coverage are guaranteed in China. The Chinese government attaches importance to, and protects, human rights. We have incorporated these into the Chinese Constitution, and we also implement [them] in earnest. We don't think that we are impeccable in terms of human rights—it is true that in some places and in some areas, we have problems. Nonetheless, we are continuing to make improvements. "

Critical opinions on online

To a question about Internet censorship and freedom of information, Wen Jiabao says:

" China now has over 200 million Internet users and the freedom of the Internet in China is recognized by many, even in the West. To uphold state security, China, like many countries in the world, has also imposed some proper restrictions. On the Internet in China, you can have access to a lot of postings that are quite critical about the government. It is exactly through reading these critical opinions on the Internet that we try to locate problems and further improve our work. I don't think a system or a government should fear critical opinions or views. "

Tiananmen to Darfur

Newsweek says it's the PM's first interview with a Western publication for years: other topics covered included Tiananmen Square, Darfur and the future of Chinese democracy.

Maybe Wen Jiabao needs to explain how China has freedom of speech and of the Internet to some of those people who authorities have locked up in last few years.

What about cyber dissident and rights activist Hu Jia, journalist Shi Tao, housing rights activist Ye Guozhu, legal advisor Chen Guangcheng or Internet essayist and journalist Huang Jinqiu – who are all sitting in jail, right this minute, because they stood up for human rights and freedom of expression.