Preparations on track for Beijing, organisers say

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Beijing, Aug 6: All preparations for next year's Beijing Olympics are on track, organisers said today, shrugging off concerns about the safety of Chinese food and accusations that it has not lived up to its media freedom pledge.

All Olympic venues with the exception of the main ''Bird's Nest'' stadium would be finished by the end of the year, and ticket sales were going well, said Wang Wei, secretary general of the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games.

''Generally speaking, preparations for the Beijing Olympics are smoothly marching forward in accordance with plans,'' he told a live televised news conference.

''City traffic conditions and the environment have got better,'' he said, though outside the pollution-plagued city was again shrouded in smog.

Jiang Xiaoyu, executive vice president of the organisers, added that regulations introduced at the start of the year to ease reporting restrictions for foreign journalists had been well received.

But the Foreign Correspondents Club of China unveiled a survey last week which said the government still harassed reporters and did not respect a promise for total media freedom.

China's censors cut off the signal on Monday morning for a live CNN broadcast from Beijing when the freedom of press question came up.

Wang also insisted food safety would not be a problem.

''We have especially established a committee on food safety,'' he said. '' We have a lot of confidence we can ensure food safety in Beijing.'' The issue has attracted global attention following the death of pets in North America from tainted Chinese-made pet food, as well as the discovery of toothpaste made with a poisonous chemical.

Since then there have been a string of reports about sub-standard made-in-China products, from seafood to tyres and toys.

Reuters>