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VPN crackdown: An unthinkable firewall for China’s expat population

Anonymous
Anonymous

Foreign companies that have an office in China may already have felt the effect of the ”Great Firewall” in China. Internet users are not pleased with this crackdown, specifically expatriates on assignment in China who will be impacted the most.

State-owned China Telecom, the country's largest internet service provider, has announced that virtual private networks (VPNs) will only be allowed to connect to a company's headquarters abroad. VPNs will be barred from accessing other sites outside of China. 

This "internet crackdown" will undoubtedly impact business travelers and expatriates on the business level, but how will this effect expatriates on the personal level? With news and social media sites possibly being blocked, what will this do to expats hoping to stay in touch with those back home?

China is tightening control over foreign companies’ internet use in a move some worry might disrupt their operations or jeopardise trade secrets as part of a crackdown on technology that allows web surfers to evade Beijing’s online censorship. In a letter to corporate customers seen by The Associated Press, the biggest Chinese internet service provider says virtual private networks, which create encrypted links between computers and can be used to see sites blocked by Beijing’s web filters, will be permitted only to connect to a company’s headquarters abroad. The letter from state-owned China Telecom said VPN users were barred from linking to other sites outside China – a change that might block access to news, social media or business services that are obscured by its “Great Firewall”.
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