China allows journalists onto Tiananmen Square after all

 Following protests, China has backed down on its planned restrictions on journalists: foreign reporters will be allowed to move freely around Tiananmen Square and conduct spontaneous interviews during the Olympic Games. A few hours after a report about new restrictions requiring an application for interviews on the symbolic square in the heart of Beijing, the official news agency Xinhua reported on Tuesday that the requirement was "not mandatory". "But advance notice would help us provide better support," Xinhua quoted the management committee for the square as saying. The authorities also do not have the right to ban journalists from working there.
The report on the new rules had caused a lack of understanding among journalists and diplomats, as the Chinese authorities had always promised free access to Tian'anmen Square before the Games. Tian'anmen Square was the scene of the 1989 democracy movement, which was ultimately bloodily suppressed by the People's Liberation Army.
The ban on visitors was initially seen as a reaction to a protest by angry Beijing citizens on Monday against their relocation not far from the square (see
).