Internet block hits Apec visitors

Media are puzzled by China's choice of sites to block

Reporters attending the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) forum in Shanghai complained on Wednesday of some international websites being blocked one day after China said it had removed restrictions.

Maybe there is some problem with online communications

Chinese spokeswoman

One reporter from the US-based international broadcaster Voice of America said he had been unable to access his own site and those of the BBC, Washington Post and New York Times.

Others complained that sites belonging to some Taiwanese newspapers were also blocked.

China routinely blocks websites of Western media outlets, human rights groups, Tibetan exiles and other sources of information it deems politically sensitive or harmful.

But on Tuesday, Chinese internet users in Shanghai appeared to have free access to many previously blocked sites.

Surfers can access blocked sites via alternative routes

A foreign ministry official in Beijing reportedly said the authorities had removed the restrictions for the Apec forum.

A Chinese Government spokeswoman answered reporters queries by saying: "Maybe there is some problem with online communications."

Zhang Qiyue, who usually acts as a foreign ministry spokeswoman but is attached to the Apec forum this week, later said it was "natural for any government to take measures to keep a firewall on the internet".

Inconsistent

The State Council Information Office is mandated to regulate the internet but it is thought the Chinese security agencies are influential over the sites deemed unsuitable.

But Western media have long been puzzled by inconsistencies in their choices.

Many news organisations' home pages are blocked yet their material can be accessed in China via sites such as Yahoo.

Sometimes sites, such as the New York Times a few weeks ago, become available for a while for no discernible reason.

It highlights the difficulties China faces as it tries to promote the internet for commercial purposes while trying to control political content.

Internet use has boomed in China - the number of users doubled in the first eight months of 2000 to 16.9 million.

But last year, China introduced strict new guidelines to try to control the kind of material published on the internet.