BEIJING, CHINA — Anyone who worried China might relax its draconian approach to free speech as a result of this summer’s Olympic Games can breathe a heavy sigh of relief. Chinese citizens are not in danger of experiencing the mind-warping realities of the internet anytime soon.Not only did Chinese authorities re-erect the Great Firewall of China immediately following the closing ceremonies for this summer’s Olympic Games in order to block sites deemed subversive, but they also now have begun photographing anyone who enters any of the country’s numerous internet cafés.

China’s internet-surfing population grew by a factor of 10 between 2000 and 2008. It now stands at approximately 250 million people. The majority of Chinese surfers use internet cafés at least occasionally, and by December, every internet café in Beijing must create a photographic record of every patron.

By law, Chinese Web surfers must be 18 years of age or older. Initially, authorities required internet cafés to register their users in order to ensure compliance. There were few attempts to cheat the system, though, so the rule was relaxed several years ago.

It’s been reinvigorated with a vengeance. Now all internet café patrons must submit to being photographed and having their IDs scanned. The data will be entered into a city-wide database maintained by the Cultural Law Enforcement Taskforce.

“I think most people don’t mind,” one café manager told Australia’s The Times newspaper. “We explain to them that this will not have any impact on them.”

However, a survey conducted by the People’s Daily indicated 72-percent of respondents considered the measure invasive and an infringement of their rights. Slightly more than 26-percent said the measure was appropriate because it would protect children.

The new rule was announced just as China’s policy granting foreign journalists greater freedom to travel and report within the country expired. As part of its bid to host the 2008 Olympics, the country relaxed its rules governing foreign reporters, although domestic reporters remained subject to a federally enforced list of 21 restrictions on their actions and reportage.

The country continues to promote itself as newly “open” to foreigners, in keeping with international hopes that the Olympic Games might encourage a legacy of decreased isolation for China. “The Chinese government will continue to follow the opening-up policy and to facilitate the work of foreign media and journalists in China,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told The Times.

The promise has not been supported by action, though. According to the Foreign Correspondents Club, Chinese authorities interfered with reporters more than 335 times since January 1st, 2007. In August, police beat ITN reporter John Ray while he covered a Tibet protest near Beijing’s main Olympic zone. Zhang Jianhong, the former editor-in-chief of the banned literary website Aegean Sea was jailed for six years for “inciting subversion.” In July, police arrested Web dissident Du Daobin for violating the probation attached to his 2004 jailing. More than 18,000 blogs and websites were shuttered between April and September 2007, and media were ordered to curtail coverage of collapsed schools following May’s earthquake.