Flashermac Posted July 11, 2017 Report Share Posted July 11, 2017 China has told its state-run telecommunications carriers to block individuals' access to VPNs by February 1st, 2018, according to a report from Bloomberg which cites "people familiar with the matter" who do not want to be named. Shutting down personal VPNs would effectively close the window on the way that many foreigners in China access sites outside of the Great Firewall, not to mention locals who also use the services to get around the censorship restrictions of China's infamous "intranet" which blocks many popular foreign social media and news sites. Of course, over the years, we've seen a number of frightening rumors about an all-out VPN crackdown come and go. However, apart from the occasional particularly sensitive period of time, expats in China remain free to use their VPNs to log onto Facebook or watch videos on YouTube. But there is evidence that Xi Jinping may be looking to take his "cyber sovereignty" campaign to the next level. Back in January, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced a crackdown against unauthorized VPNs used to conduct business, while, earlier this month, GreenVPN notified its users that it was being forced to shut down after "receiving a notice from regulatory departments." If China does launch a massive crackdown against personal VPNs, it will likely undue all the work that it has done in recent years aimed at attracting more "high-quality" foreigners to come and work in the country. It also isn't likely to help draw back those that have already left. "This seems to impact individuals," Jake Parker, Beijing-based vice president of the US-China Business Council, told Bloomberg. "VPNs are incredibly important for companies trying to access global services outside of China,†he said. "In the past, any effort to cut off internal corporate VPNs has been enough to make a company think about closing or reducing operations in China. It’s that big a deal,†he continued. http://www.phuketgaz...6764#ad-image-0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radioman Posted July 11, 2017 Report Share Posted July 11, 2017 Oh my, wait till the General Sergeant Colonel Pol Corporal types get this bee in their bonnets. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted July 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2017 That was my immediate thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radioman Posted July 12, 2017 Report Share Posted July 12, 2017 Since Thailand has become a satellite of the PRC I'm sure they will readily embrace this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baa99 Posted July 12, 2017 Report Share Posted July 12, 2017 ... but what about porn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted July 14, 2017 Report Share Posted July 14, 2017 They can't keep out the outside world forever. This is typical China were in its history at times, Emperors have banned outside travel to many of its citizens. With the level of traveling they are now doing, the middle and upper class Chinese populace are well aware of what is going on elsewhere. Its the lower classes they can still delude to some extent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted July 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2017 My Asian history prof told me those many years ago that the Great Chinese Wall was built as much to keep the Chinese in as the "barbarians" out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baa99 Posted July 14, 2017 Report Share Posted July 14, 2017 Well, Hong Kong is getting squeezed by China. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo_bill Posted July 14, 2017 Report Share Posted July 14, 2017 I don´t know what a VPN is but every Chinese I know uses devices which they call " Climb over the wall program " to get access to anything they want . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waerth Posted July 18, 2017 Report Share Posted July 18, 2017 ... but what about porn? Porn of any kind is totally blocked in China. Also websites for massage, escort etc in china which you can view when not in China are 100% blocked. No searchengines available but Bing which gives 98% of its search results in Chinese. I am in China twice a month or more and without a vpn the internet simply does not exist in China. It is THAT BAD! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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