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Last broadcast on Sun, 10 Aug 2008, 20:30 on BBC News Channel (see all broadcasts).
Synopsis
As the Beijing Games approaches, award-winning journalist John Sweeney travels across China to discover whether the Communist Party has kept its promise to allow foreign journalists to report freely in the run-up to the Olympics.
Sweeney has no problems meeting the beneficiaries of China's economic boom but what will happen when he ventures into darker territory and seeks out those campaigning for democracy and human rights? He crosses through China, following the Olympic torch on what the authorities claim is 'the journey of harmony'.

Watch China’s Olympic Promise
China’s Olympic Promise
Ahead of the Olympics Panorama reporter John Sweeney went to China to test the government's promise of more openness.
Limits to China’s pledge of change
China promised an open Olympics for the media, and to promote human rights and democracy, in its bid for the Games. To see if it was true to its word, BBC Panorama reporter John Sweeney spent five weeks criss-crossing the country.
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Credits
- Presenter
- Jeremy Vine
- Presenter
- John Sweeney
Broadcasts
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Mon 4 Aug 200820:30
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Thu 7 Aug 200804:30
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Fri 8 Aug 200801:40
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Sun 10 Aug 200820:30
