The New York Times said Saturday that China
has blocked access to the newspaper's Web site and other news sites that are
occasionally critical of Beijing.
The Times said Beijing blocked
Chinese language versions of the BBC, Voice of America and Asiaweek earlier this
week, but all were accessible again by Friday.
However, the paper said
its site was still blocked Saturday. The site of Ming Pao, a Hong Kong
newspaper was blocked earlier this week and was still restricted on
Friday.
The paper quoted Rebecca MacKinnon, a researcher at Hong Kong
University who specializes in China's Internet controls, as saying the reasons
for the restrictions are mysterious.
China's Foreign Affairs Ministry
offered no explanation for the blockages.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.