Internet users in the Republic of China will get to read English language news items on the BBC web site - for the first time - following years of control by Beijing authorities. The BBC news is one of several sites to have been blocked by the Chinese Government to stop Internet users from availing Western news sources as part of the infamous ‘Great Firewall of China’. Reports indicate that the Chinese Government has now eased its controls. The blockage reportedly remains in place for any Chinese language services on the web site, and for any links in Chinese.

Beijing has never (officially) admitted to having blocked access to the BBC site, but Internet users in China trying to access Web pages of BBC have invariably been receiving the error message like: ‘The connection was reset.’

Chinese authorities have assured foreign journalists of greater freedom in the run up to the Beijing Olympic Games that take place in August. Editor of the BBC News web site, Steve Herrmann welcomed the new development, stating: “We want BBC News to be as accessible there in China as anywhere else across the globe. We’ll endeavour to continue working with the authorities in China for improving our access in other areas.”