The International Olympic Committee warned China that...

The International Olympic Committee warned China that it risks losing the right to hold the 2008 Games unless it improves its human rights record.
In an interview with the BBC Hardtalk television program, new IOC President Jacques Rogge said China had agreed to improve its human rights record as part of the agreement it signed with the IOC to host the 2008 Games in Beijing.
"We are convinced that the Olympic Games will improve human rights in China," Rogge told the BBC program.
"However, the IOC is a responsible organisation and if either security, logistics or human rights are not acted upon to our satisfaction, then we will act.
"The IOC will make sure within its own sphere that human rights are respected. In a host city contract, there are several clauses pertaining to such matters, which must be respected by the city."
Rogge said the IOC would be conferring with the UN and Amnesty International on human rights in China as the Olympic body did not have expertise in the area.
Amnesty International said the figure of 2,468 executions in China in 2001 was a major rise on the 1,000 or so who were sentenced to death in 2000. The US State Department in March also issued a major report condemning China's human rights record.
"The [Chinese] Government's human rights record throughout the year remained poor and the Government continued to commit numerous and serious abuses," the US State Department report said.
"Authorities still were quick to suppress any person or group whether religious, political or social that they perceived to be a threat to Government power or to national stability," it said.