Jane Macartney, the Times Beijing correspondent, today has the distinction of perhaps being the most hated person in China. After her reports on the violence in Tibet she has become the target of a campaign fuelled by the authorities that has whipped up outrage among ordinary Chinese. By the last count The Times had attracted more than 11,000 comments, on a popular website, most of them highly critical. The gist of the complaints is that China is being unfairly attacked in the Western press as part of a conspiracy to mount a boycott of the Beijing Olympics.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. The 2008 Olympics should be one of the great events of our time. Britain will go to the Games with the unequivocal endorsement of The Times. The newspaper ardently opposes any suggestion of a boycott, which would be unfair to the athletes who have trained so hard, self-defeating for those who want to see greater freedom in China and malicious towards a country and a people who have travelled so far to celebrate their achievements as a nation and their re-engagement with the world.

But Beijing should have understood by now that hosting the Olympics would also focus attention on all aspects of the country. This means that its treatment of Tibetans and other minorities will be put under the spotlight. So too will its human rights record and its relationships with countries such as Sudan, Iran and Burma. As we have said previously, the success of these Olympics is at stake.

In the case of Tibet, when demonstrations broke out in Lhasa this month hundreds of media outlets around the world attempted to cover the story, even though the authorities prevented journalists travelling to the area. Although denied the chance to travel to Tibet, Macartney's coverage has been exemplary. Despite the best efforts of the authorities to contain the story, she has succeeded in reporting it fairly, thanks in large part to her nine years' experience of working in China and fluent Mandarin.

The only comfort that can be drawn from the present dispute is that the issue is being debated peacefully and respectfully on both sides. This has not always been the case in China. Thomas Bowlby, a correspondent of The Times, who was part of a British diplomatic delegation to China in 1861, was captured, tortured and killed. In retaliation British and French forces burnt down the Old Summer Palace, one of China's great imperial monuments.

Today's row is heated but civil. The Western media may have to learn to be more sensitive about how they cover China, in particular by avoiding the stereotypical stories that clearly infuriate ordinary Chinese. But China and the Chinese have a bigger challenge ahead. They must come to terms with the realities of the modern media. The same forces of globalisation that have helped to transform China's economy will expose the country to news, views and scrutiny that it cannot shut out.

Some may be difficult to digest. But this newspaper has no malicious intent, just the desire to report faithfully and accurately the developments in one of the world's most important countries, the hopes and frustrations of its people as they really are and the great compelling story that is the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.