Although Beijing has recently relaxed restrictions for foreign media in hopes of gaining a better image for the 2008 Olympics, controls on domestic writers remains tight. The government barred 20 Chinese writers from attending the International PEN conference in Hong Kong over the weekend, as reported by AP. A writer's organization and self-proclaimed world's oldest human rights group, International PEN said that some mainland writers were warned not to go, while others with permits to travel to Hong Kong had their documents seized at the border. Recently China has banned eight books, including works of history and one about the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2003.