March 19 (Bloomberg) -- China is tightening controls on foreign news organizations in the country by restricting the work of Chinese news assistants, backsliding on a pledge to allow greater media freedom, Human Rights Watch said.

Under a code of conduct introduced last month, assistants of foreign correspondents in China are barred from “independent reporting” and required to “propagate positive information,” the New York-based group said.

The rules will hamper the work of foreign correspondents, who rely on assistants to help them report, translate and gather information, the group said in a statement.

After granting foreign reporters the right to travel and interview people without prior permission last year, China faces increasing demands from rights groups to extend media freedom. This year marks the 20th anniversary of China’s crackdown on pro- democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square and the 50th anniversary of an uprising in Tibet that led to the exile of the Himalayan region’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

The code of conduct, issued Feb. 13, warns that news assistants may be dismissed and lose accreditation if they conduct independent interviews, Human Rights Watch said.

The government hasn’t provided any clarification on its criteria for “independent reporting,” the group said, citing unidentified foreign correspondents.

“The conditions aren’t ripe for Chinese nationals to work in the full capacity as journalists for foreign media organizations,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said today at a media briefing in Beijing. “The rules are clear.”

‘Stepping Backward’

“After taking some steps forward on media freedom in 2008, the Chinese government is now stepping backward,” Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said in the statement. “Granting greater freedom to foreign correspondents and then increasing the constraints on their crucial Chinese assistants can’t be considered progress.”

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China says it is “appalled” at the new restrictions on assistants, adding they run “against the promise of openness made last year.”

With the global spotlight on China as it prepared to host the 2008 Olympic Games, the government in Beijing instituted a temporary regulation on Jan. 1, 2007, allowing foreign reporters to travel and interview people freely. When the statute expired last October, it made the regulation permanent.

Nevertheless, journalists still face harassment and interference, including violence, denial of access to public areas and being followed, according to the FCCC.

Reporters from at least six news organizations were detained, turned back or had their tapes confiscated this month as they tried to visit the Tibetan areas of Gansu, Sichuan and Qinghai ahead of the anniversary of unrest in Tibet, the FCCC said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ed Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 19, 2009 06:01 EDT