BBC Website ‘Unblocked In China’

来源: BBC

People in China are reportedly able to access stories on the BBC News website in full, after years of strict control by the Beijing government.

Dubbed the great firewall of China, the Communist government routinely blocks foreign news sites such as the BBC.

But BBC staff working in China now say they are able to access news stories that would have been blocked before.

However, the firewall remains in place for Chinese language services on the website and for any links in Chinese.

Beijing has never admitted to blocking access to BBC news stories - and there has been no official confirmation that the website has been unblocked.

Tibet difficulties

Chinese users trying to access pages on the site have almost always been redirected to an error message telling them: "The connection was reset."

It now appears that this is no longer the case, and access to the site is much easier.

The Chinese media website Danwei reported that BBC news output was now available to users "without hindrance".

The BBC website's statisticians say traffic from China on Tuesday has been much higher than usual.

Technology experts say such a development would not be possible without the approval of internet service providers - which are under strict supervision by Beijing.

The Chinese authorities had promised to give foreign journalists more freedom in the run-up to this summer's Olympic Games.

But analysts say that recent outbreaks of unrest in Tibet have made this promise more difficult for Beijing to uphold.

The BBC and other media organisations still find reporting from Tibet very difficult. Foreign journalists were refused permission to enter the region during the recent protests.

The Chinese government has arranged a trip for foreign media organisations to Tibet this week - but the BBC's request to be included has been rejected.