2008 Olympic Games.

Playboy and a raft of other limited foreign publications may be available for visitors to the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a temporary exception, as China mulls easing its controls for the Games in step with international practice.

“Our law forbids Playboy and we should obey this, but we can’t rule out the possibility that it might make its debut,” Liang Jianrui, Vice-President of China National Publications Import and Export Corporation (CNPIEC) said.

CNPIEC will manage the nine magazine-selling kiosks sanctioned by the Olympic organisers during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, with each selling 100 kinds of newspapers and magazines, including those difficult to find in Beijing like The New York Times, Newsweek and The Sun, the latter famous for its topless Page 3 models.

“We will provide most of  the world’s top-selling newspapers and magazines,” Liang said to
the state-run China Daily in its weekly supplement on the Olympics.

Playboy remained a highly controversial choice at the Olympic village, the newspaper said but pointed
out to the growing trend in China to experiment with magazines that were once considered dangerous or unsanitary.

The relaxation of curbs on magazines and newspapers is in line with the Olympic protocol, the newspaper said, noting that earlier host cities such as Athens, Sydney and Atlanta were also asked to ensure journalists and athletes had access to all leading international publications.