{"id":555,"date":"2023-10-24T03:58:47","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T19:58:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/2023\/10\/24\/china-denies-vpn-crackdown-blames-false-foreign-media-reports\/"},"modified":"2023-10-24T03:58:47","modified_gmt":"2023-10-23T19:58:47","slug":"china-denies-vpn-crackdown-blames-false-foreign-media-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/china-denies-vpn-crackdown-blames-false-foreign-media-reports\/","title":{"rendered":"China Denies VPN Crackdown, Blames False \u201cForeign Media\u201d Reports"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>Following a report that Chinese authorities had ordered state-owned ISPs to block VPNs, the government has published a statement. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said no such notice had been issued and &#8220;legitimate access&#8221; to the global<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Following a report that Chinese authorities had ordered state-owned ISPs to block VPNs, the government has published a statement. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said no such notice had been issued and &#8220;legitimate access&#8221; to the global Internet, by businesses and general users, will be permitted.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"1.jpeg\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FnU_iPLwZFSsCSjs-wa1teQ8vyH0?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" height=\"500\" width=\"499\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_73 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-5'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/china-denies-vpn-crackdown-blames-false-foreign-media-reports\/#Photo_eastday\" title=\"Photo:eastday\">Photo:eastday<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-5'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/china-denies-vpn-crackdown-blames-false-foreign-media-reports\/#Photo_Sohu\" title=\"Photo: Sohu\">Photo: Sohu<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h5><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Photo_eastday\"><\/span>Photo:eastday<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n<hr>\n<p>Chinese authorities have stated that personal VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) will not be banned (in Chinese), but Facebook and Instagram addicts may not be safe yet.<\/p>\n<p>After news broke out that state-run telecommunications carriers\u2014including China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom\u2014will block individuals from accessing VPNs by February 2018, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) responded &nbsp;saying that reports from foreign media are untrue.<\/p>\n<p style=\"\">The Ministry stated that it has not banned personal VPN use and explained that the notice\u2014which was issued in January this year\u2014concerns cross-border business activities and does not include domestic and foreign enterprises as well as the majority of users.<\/p>\n<p style=\"\"><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"2.png\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FoEFFRNZcvMHpxMaPRC-sBykXFBg?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" height=\"682.3387978142076\" width=\"589\" title=\"\"> <\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>In comments to China-based media outlet The Paper, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology denied issuing a notice to the telecoms companies requiring them to block user VPNs. It said that \u201cforeign media reports\u201d were inaccurate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur subordinate Secretary did not issue the relevant notice, what foreign media reported was false,\u201d the Ministry said.<\/p>\n<p>The local media report then has the Ministry citing news that previously broke in January, detailing the new government measures that require cross-border enterprise-level VPN systems to be authorized and licensed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cForeign trade enterprises and multinational companies, due to office for personal use and other reasons, need to access cross-border networking,\u201d the Ministry said, adding that licensing is available and won\u2019t have a detrimental effect on normal operations.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"3.png\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FjOj34E1mTMalpn7fkc2M5yaJepv?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" height=\"368.39272727272726\" width=\"589\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<h5><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Photo_Sohu\"><\/span>Photo: Sohu<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h5>\n<hr>\n<p>Although it\u2019s difficult to ferret out individual VPN users, one way telecoms can make it harder is by not providing certain services, such as server access to VPN businesses. Other laws might make it harder for VPN businesses to operate, too.<\/p>\n<p>Last month Beijing enacted the long-gestating Cybersecurity Law, which regulates where companies can store and move data generated in China. The law is part of the government\u2019s effort to restrict cross-border data flow. Apple announced today (July 12) that it is setting up its first data center in China to comply with the law, which requires foreign firms to store data within the country.<\/p>\n<p>At the local level, too, provinces and cities are taking new steps to stop VPN use. In March, the city of Chongqing published a notice that specified fines of as much as 15,000 yuan ($2,210) against individuals and organizations for establishing or using channels (link in Chinese) to connect to international networks. Although the notice did not specify VPNs, users of VPNs were targeted, reported state media Global Times.<\/p>\n<p>So far, the opposite is true: one of China\u2018s most popular VPN service providers, Green VPN, was ordered to cease operations in June 2017.<\/p>\n<p>Only time will tell how the landscape will pan out.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"GIC QR.jpg\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/media.hiredchina.com\/FlXXlKXBxtykYAuKbjvAxKMwIbVH?imageView2\/0\/format\/webp\/q\/75\" height=\"488.9643463497453\" width=\"450\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Following a report that Chinese authorities had ordered state-owned ISPs to block VPNs, the government has published a statement. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said no such notice &#8230;","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}