"The government crackdown on journalists and others who seek to exercise their right to freedom of expression has intensified in recent months. At least 30 journalists and 50 cyber-dissidents are currently held in Chinese prisons for peacefully expressing their views," the Paris-based WAN and WEF said in a letter to Dr Rogge, who will be in Beijing next week for meetings of the IOC Executive Board and with Chinese Olympic officials.

The letter asked Dr Rogge to help ensure that China honour the pledge it made in its successful Olympic bid to allow foreign media "complete freedom to report when they come to China." The Chinese Olympic Committee also promised that, “In the preparation for the Games, we will be open in every aspect to the rest of the country and the whole world. We will draw on the successful experience of others and follow the international standards and criteria.”

Dr Rogge said last week he was conducting "silent diplomacy" with the Chinese government, which is facing growing protests over its repressive policies in the run-up to the Olympics.

"We also ask that your ’silent diplomacy’ becomes voluble and public if the Chinese government does not immediately release from jail all those detained for exercising their right to freedom of expression", said the letter from WAN and WEF.

WAN has also written directly to the CEOs of 12 major Olympic sponsors asking them "to express your strong moral opposition to the repression of basic human rights in China and, in particular, the daily violation of all acceptable standards for freedom of expression." Full details of the WAN campaign for press freedom in China, including a conference in Paris on 18 and 19 April with a coalition of press freedom groups, an advertising campaign and a letter-writing initiative, can be found here.

The letter to Dr Rogge said:

"We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 102 countries, to ask you to call on the Chinese authorities to fully respect the promises they made to respect freedom of expression in their preparations to host the Beijing Olympics.

"The government crackdown on journalists and others who seek to exercise their right to freedom of expression has intensified in recent months. At least 30 journalists and 50 cyber-dissidents are currently held in Chinese prisons for peacefully expressing their views.

"Following the recent violence, foreign journalists have been banned from Tibet since 12 March and reporters in Tibet and across China have been arrested, harassed and had video recordings confiscated. Although the government introduced new regulations in 2007 to allow greater freedom of movement and access for foreign journalists who wished to travel in the country, these regulations have never been fully respected.

"Chinese journalists continue to be subject to the censorship of the Publicity Department, and the government and party continue to use authoritarian laws, including subversion, disseminating state secrets and spying, to control news and information. Self-censorship is the rule in domestic news organisations, while independent Chinese-language media based abroad are routinely blocked, harassed or jammed.

"We respectfully remind you that the Organising Committee for the Beijing Olympic Games guaranteed in 2001 that foreign media would have “complete freedom to report when they come to China”. Furthermore, the Committee’s “Beijing Olympic Action Plan” of 2002 promises: “In the preparation for the Games, we will be open in every aspect to the rest of the country and the whole world. We will draw on the successful experience of others and follow the international standards and criteria.”

"In accordance with these pledges and numerous international conventions, declarations and agreements - including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - we call on you to urge the Chinese authorities to end censorship and stop violating the right of all people to access information.

"We also ask that your “silent diplomacy” becomes voluble and public if the Chinese government does not immediately release from jail all those detained for exercising their right to freedom of expression."

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom and the professional and business interests of newspapers world-wide. Representing 18,000 newspapers, its membership includes 77 national newspaper associations, newspaper companies and individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and 11 regional and world-wide press groups.

The WEF is the organisation for editors within the World Association of Newspapers (www.worldeditorsforum.org).

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr.