China's announcement it will extend the temporary Olympic media freedoms granted to foreign journalists is great news – but the freedoms should also be given to Chinese journalists.

After days of silence from officials, the announcement came just before midnight on Friday, minutes before the temporary regulations, which came into force on 1 January last year, were set to expire, according to several news outlets.

The looser rules, which have never applied to Chinese journalists, meant, among other things, foreign reporters could interview local people and travel to most places in China without having to get government permission.

Principles and spirit

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said the extension "takes the main principles and spirit of the special regulations for the Olympic period and fixes them in long-term rules and regulations", writes Reuters.

Foreign journalists will be allowed to travel freely across most of China, but they would still have to apply for permits to visit Tibet, just as tourists do. He also said other areas may be designated off-bounds or temporarily closed after disasters.

" Chinese nationals will also still be barred from working as full correspondents for foreign organizations, and restricted to the role of assistants ... "

Pledge for improvements

Amnesty International has been campaigning for China – as part of its pledge that hosting the Olympics would improve the country's human rights – to pull away from the heavily censored conditions in which it forces foreign and domestic journalists to carry out their work.

In China, media outlets are regularly shut down and journalists beaten and jailed – at least 30 journalists are known to be in jail. Editors routinely receive a list of banned subjects, such as unofficial religions, judicial corruption or the internal workings of the Government.

The extension of the Olympic media rules is a shift in the right direction, but it can't be the end – more progress is needed, like the opening up of restricted areas and granting the same freedoms to domestic Chinese journalists.

Rules don't equal reality

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of China (FCCC) has called on authorities to make sure police and local officials respect the freedoms. Club president, Jonathan Watt, says:

" … "If properly implemented, we believe this will mark a step forward in the opening of China's media environment" …"

The rules haven't been a cure-all for media freedom in China. The FCCC has logged more than 335 cases of journalists being hampered while doing their job since the regulations came into effect.

In some cases foreign media have been blocked from visiting certain areas, carrying out interviews, taking photos and, despite legitimate permits, from covering particular news stories. The FCCC reported that foreign journalists have been subjected to harassment and have even been physically prevented from doing their job.

Touch and go reporting

Shortly before news of the extension broke, Al Jazeera English filed a YouTube report about the rules and the reality of reporting in China. Journalist Melissa Chan reported what happened when they tried to do a non-political, non-controversial story about a girl living in rural China:

" … Local officials were tipped off we were in the area. Foreign journalists, why were we here and what were we up to? Before we knew it they had shut the gates at local Party headquarters so we couldn't leave …Reporting in China is always a touch and go affair ... "

Changes on the ground

The BBC has being talking to a few foreign correspondents in China to find what difference the rules made to their working lives.

Calum MacLeod, USA Today's China correspondent, says for the print media, it meant it was easier to be less conspicuous.

" "Even while these rules were in place, I've still been detained in local areas and had my reporting restricted by officials who did not know the rules or did not care about them. But, as foreign journalists, it did mean we had a piece of paper to show them …"

While the BBC's own correspondent, Michael Bristow, says that like many rules and regulations from the Chinese government, they weren't always implemented properly.

" … "In fact, the Chinese authorities, whether in some far-flung village or in central Beijing, would simply ignore the rules if it suited them …"

Monitoring needed

Amnesty International welcomes the extension, however, continued monitoring will be required to ensure that the regulations are carried out in practice. One area where foreign journalists may find themselves blocked is in reporting on the troubles faced by their Chinese colleagues to whom the regulations do not apply.

THANK YOU to all of you who worked so hard on this campaign, having these regulations extended was one of the objectives of our work and this is a great success.