With only two years to go until the Beijing Olympics, the spotlight is on China. But it seems the Chinese government isn’t yet ready for journalists to shine the light on some of the country’s darker corners, as SBS’s Insightprogram has discovered.

Some months ago, the program applied for entry visas in order to shoot a program from Beijing about the booming behemoth. But these visas have not been issued, says an SBS insider, with the Chinese Embassy citing “technical reasons”.

Crikey hears that the program was going to look at the economic giant and how, in the run-up to the Olympics, it’s dealing with the pressure, as well as the gap between rich and poor, the environment and democratic reforms.

It seems that SBS had been in discussions with the Chinese Embassy over a couple of months and had lined up guests in China in the belief that the trip was a good possibility.

Despite the visa setback, the program itself hasn’t been cancelled – Insight is still planning to do a piece with similar content to air on 29 August – although its potential to peer behind doors has been stymied.