Rights groups have called on New York's mayor and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to confront Beijing 2008 Olympic Games organizers over the country's media restrictions and human rights record.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is visiting China this week, is obligated to express concern about media freedoms because he is founder of the global financial news service that bears his name.
"Bloomberg should explain to the Chinese government how important media freedom is to China's social, economic and political development," the group said.
Bloomberg is scheduled to attend a series of meetings with government officials and business leaders in Beijing and Shanghai.
Separately, Amnesty International said that the IOC must push Beijing organizers at its Executive Board meeting this week in Switzerland for progress on reducing use of the death penalty and detentions of citizens without trial, allowing greater freedom of expression and ending the harassment of human rights activists.
While reforms are primarily the government's responsibility, the IOC "can still make a significant contribution by using its influence to bring about positive change in line with the Olympics Charter," the group said in a statement.
China is the leading jailer of journalists, with at least 29 behind bars, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based advocacy group. Most independent reporting and criticism of the Chinese Communist Party is blocked, and monitors erase critical commentary on the Internet and frequently jail cyber-dissidents.
Scores of news and opinion Web sites are blocked within the country.
Authorities have relaxed rules for foreign media ahead of the Aug. 15 opening of the Olympic Games, promising unrestricted access, visa exemptions, tax waivers for equipment and other benefits.
However, harassment and detentions continue, according to monitoring groups and foreign journalists.
China is believed to execute more people for crimes each year than all other nations combined and regularly sentences petty criminals and government critics to two or more years in prison camps without trial.
China has repeatedly claimed it upholds civil rights in conformity with its constitution, while avoiding discussion of specific cases.
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