China seems to ease Wikipedia controls

BEIJING (AFP) — Chinese censors seemed Thursday to have relaxed their control of Wikipedia, a popular online encyclopaedia, as reports from users suggested it was accessible in at least parts of the country.

The site appeared to have been unblocked in several major cities including the capital Beijing, where China will host the summer Olympic Games in August.

News of the unblocking came on the same day that Hu Jia, one of China's most prominent dissidents, was jailed for three-and-a-half years for "subversion of state power" over six articles he published on the Internet.

His Wikipedia entry was accessible, suggesting that Chinese authorities had unblocked the entire site, and not just sections as they often do.

The International Olympic Committee has been pushing for China to open up the Internet ahead of the Games.

The English version of the BBC, as well as Blogspot, a Google-owned ...