B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell was on the hot seat in Beijing Tuesday, answering questions about problems in Vancouver that could disrupt the 2010 Games. (CBC)

People will be free to protest during the 2010 Winter Games, and plans will be in place to deal with any problems on the road to Whistler, B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday.

Campbell unveiled plans for a high-tech and environmentally friendly Olympics media centre in downtown Vancouver, adding that the thousands of journalists coming would highlight all that B.C. has to offer.

But reporters at the news conference fired hardballs at the premier, beginning with a Chinese journalist who asked about plans to deal with protests and the possibility of rock slides along the Sea to Sky Highway during the Games.

Campbell said people are free to express their views in Canada and people will be allowed to protest legally during the 2010 Games.

The rock slide near Porteau Cove on July 29 that closed the Sea to Sky Highway for five days was the work of nature and no one could have expected it coming, Campbell said.

"The rock slide that took place on the Sea to Sky wasn't expected. It was probably a 200-year-event," Campbell said.

Campbell said the organizing committee for the 2010 Games and the provincial government will have contingency plans in place to handle similar situations.

The 2010 International Media Centre, located in Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, will provide facilities for more than 3,000 members of the press, Campbell said.

It will co-ordinate technology, information, transportation and hospitality, as well as access to officials and athletes for reporters.