Using the universal media bait of sex, American gold medal swimmer Amanda Beard unveiled her nude self on a poster supporting People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), but not before apparently running afoul of Chinese government decorum.

Before she ended up outside the Athletes Village in her publicity stunt for PETA's anti-fur campaign, Beard and entourage were ousted from a scheduled morning press conference at the prestigious, new Pangu Plaza hotel next to the Olympic Green.

Arriving reporters were blocked by caution tape and a bevy of nervous bellmen who spoke little English.

After several minutes of furtive arm waving, curious looks and some locked elbows holding back a few media interlopers, a senior bellman produced a phone number of a PETA publicity person, who confirmed that the event had been called off abruptly.

No one was saying exactly why, but judging by the conservative tenor of government warnings about misbehavior, the Chinese were having none of this decadent Western nonsense.

"I think some people were scared of what this might become," Jason Baker, PETA's Asia-Pacific director, told reporters at the Village. "I think they tried (censorship) but it was not successful. Amanda didn't want her voice to be silenced."

Beard, who will defend her 200-meter breaststroke gold medal from Athens, appeared in Playboy in 2007 and seems ready to continue a new career of professional nakedness.

While holding a poster of a PETA ad that showed her slyly covering the issues in question, Beard denied trying to provoke the Chinese.

"You have concerns," she said. "I'm not out here taking my clothes off. We're doing it in a very positive way.

"I'm not trying to be in everybody's face and be harsh or negative. I want to be calm and yet get my voice out there. I'm doing it for all those animals who don't have a voice."

China may enjoy being the world's leading exporter of fur, but for the next two weeks it has agreed to import free speech too. Stay tuned for the first of many such exchanges.