Chinese authorities have recently stepped up crackdowns on tools that circumvent internet censorship, such as virtual private networks (VPNs), leading to a surge in cases of unstable or blocked access to overseas internet services.
According to the Epoch Times on the 27th, authorities expanded the nationwide crackdown on VPNs since March. Following government directives, data centers blocked overseas network access, and police and telecom companies reportedly tightened monitoring of VPN use on university campuses.
In fact, according to the Korean expat community in Beijing, VPN services have recently been cut off, resulting in continued reports of blocked access to KakaoTalk, Naver and Google, Instagram, and more. A user in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, told the outlet, "Even if access to blocked sites is still possible, the connection is often unstable," adding, "Even when it looks connected, in many cases the page does not actually load."
In China, individuals or institutions arbitrarily using VPNs to access overseas internet is illegal. However, not only foreigners and businesses but also private users routinely bypass the internet using VPNs, and cases of punishment are extremely rare, so VPN use has been regarded as a tacitly tolerated "gray zone."
This month, however, signs of a policy shift have emerged, as it became public that public security authorities in Hubei province imposed an administrative fine on a private individual who used a VPN to access overseas social media (SNS).
The Epoch Times said, "The authorities' measures target VPN networks used by private users," adding, "Unlike in the past, they have recently even employed methods that physically cut off servers at data centers. These measures are more organized and centralized than before. As a result, the cost of circumventing the internet within China is rising rapidly."