Beijing: China appears to have banned a number of foreign websites, including the BBC's Chinese language news site and Voice of America in Chinese.

The sites had been unblocked after journalists attending the Beijing Olympics complained that the government was censoring sites deemed sensitive.

But they have been banned again, along with some Hong Kong and Taiwan sites.

A foreign ministry spokesman refused to confirm that the government was behind the censorship.

But he said that some websites which supported Taiwanese independence violated Chinese law.

Tough year ahead

Just before the Olympics, foreign journalists complained that they could not access a host of websites which carried news or comment that Beijing deemed sensitive.

The Olympics led to an improvement in China's controls of the foreign media, and not all the advances have been rolled back.

But the country is expected to face a tough year ahead - the dramatic slowing of economic growth and rising unemployment are expected to fuel social unrest.

It is also the 20th anniversary of the brutal suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests, and 50 years since China took direct control of Tibet.

More censorship and increased internal security are expected in 2009.