A stab in the back

Robert Ménard, secretary-general of the non-governmental organisation Reporters Without Borders, criticises in the weekly magazine Le Nouvel Observateur the way the press was treated during the Olympic Games and French President Nicolas Sarkozy's visit to China: "Journalists were indeed free to go about their work to a much greater extent than they have been in the past in China. But this does not alter the fact that around twenty journalists were maltreated, beaten and arrested. ... For a year now we have no longer been able to talk of a political opening in China. A year ago ... we could talk to the Chinese authorities. Now this is impossible. ... There will be no more cameras [on location]. The 20,000 journalists who were responsible for coverage of the games will leave. ... The diplomats will try to do their work effectively. But Nicolas Sarkozy changed his mind, and I can no longer rely on him. ... By agreeing to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games our president stabbed us in the back. He let us down."

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