China appears to have banned a number of foreign websites, including the BBC’s Chinese language news site and Voice of America in Chinese, BBC News reports. The sites had been unblocked after journalists attending the Beijing Olympics complained that the government was censoring sites deemed sensitive.
The BBC expressed disappointment at the apparent reinstatement of the ban. But a Chinese government spokesman told journalists that some sites contained content that violated Chinese law. Among the other sites blocked are Asiaweek, Reporters Without Borders and some Hong Kong and Taiwan sites.
China imposes strict controls on the dissemination of information through the web, employing teams of people to remove sensitive content, police bloggers and remove access to certain sites.
(Source: Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog)