Chinese curbs on news denounced

BEIJING - International press groups have denounced new Chinese curbs on the dissemination of foreign news as a step backwards ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when thousands of journalists will descend on the capital.

The official Xinhua news agency announced rules requiring foreign media to seek its approval with immediate effect to distribute news, pictures and graphics within China.

Warning against news that endangers national security, sabotages national unification or promotes cults, the rules empower Xinhua to censor reports distributed in China by foreign media and to delete forbidden content.

"These new regulations on the distribution of foreign news are a step backward," said Joel Simon, executive director of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

The Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders called for a joint reaction from the US, European and Japanese Governments to the new attempt to curb information flow.

- REUTERS