- The Foreign Correspondent Club of China (FCCC) is heartened by the support it receives from other countries and organizations, particularly in pressing for better working conditions for reporters in China, Jonathan Watts, President of the FCCC, says in a statement September 12th.

The situation for foreign correspondents working in China has improved since January 1, 2007, when the new media legislation in China was activated.

Yao Xiaoling, researcher, SUM, Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo, has made a report on the working conditions for the foreign journalists during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

His initial findings were that the reporting conditions were good inside the stadiums and the media centre during the Games, but many long-term problems remain outside, particularly violence, detentions and intimidation of sources.

Many journalists complained that Tibet, the Tibetan areas and Xinjiang unfortunately were not included in the free travel and free reporting tool.

The biggest problem the foreign journalists met was that even though they were allowed to interview the local Chinese people, but many of the locals were not willing to talk to the journalists in front of a camera.