{"id":29855,"date":"2019-10-31T21:32:20","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T18:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/blog\/gosudarstvennyj-internet-rasskaz-udalyonshhika-o-vpn-v-kitae\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T18:21:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T16:21:41","slug":"gosudarstvennyj-internet-rasskaz-udalyonshhika-o-vpn-v-kitae","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/en\/blog\/gosudarstvennyj-internet-rasskaz-udalyonshhika-o-vpn-v-kitae","title":{"rendered":"State Internet: A Freelancer's Account of VPN in China","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

Censorship is closely tied to politics. The annual global freedom<\/a> index illustrates this dependency: countries that violate human rights block \"undesirable\" resources or restrict access to the global network.
\n\"State<\/p>\n

Only 13 out of 65 countries analyzed by Freedom House in 2017 do not hinder<\/a> the information freedom of their citizens. Most other users of the global Internet can only access blocked resources through VPN services<\/a>. This includes residents of China, where recently the hunt for unauthorized VPNs has intensified.<\/a> Frontend developer Ararat Martirosyan, who lives in China and works remotely, shared with us what is happening with local<\/p>\n

VPN services and where, in his opinion, the freest Internet exists. We publish his account here.<\/a> Timeline of Restrictions
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

Back in 2008, China blocked YouTube. A year later, it was the turn of Twitter, Facebook, and Google services \u2014 Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Drive, and Google.com were blocked. In 2014, access to Instagram was eliminated. The official stance of the authorities is that all these resources spread unwanted information for the citizens of China, but there is another version.<\/h3>\n

The \"Great Firewall\"<\/p>\n

(or the Great Chinese Firewall) , which filters \"dangerous\" content based on keywords and restricts access to sites from a local blacklist, has been operational in China since 2003. Western social networks were not included in this list. Therefore, many believe that the mass blockages of 2008-2009 simply helped the state combat<\/i>unrest among the Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the west of the country. I believe the same: in 2009, the unrest was suppressed by force, and information about it was thoroughly concealed \u2014 neither the media nor human rights activists could adequately monitor the situation. It is well known that Instagram was blocked due to<\/a> protests in Hong Kong.<\/a> You can check whether the \"Great Firewall\" allows you to access the link you need through<\/p>\n

\"State
\nWebSitePulse WebSitePulse<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

Along with the 'distributors of unwanted content,' other useful resources were also blocked. Due to the blockage of servers and IP addresses, websites that interacted with Google stopped functioning \u2014 for example, Google fonts could not load (the same thing happened in Russia). Online colleges and simply entertainment content from the 'West' also suffered. Interestingly, with a Chinese 4G SIM card, even from another country, you cannot access the banned resources.<\/a> That's when people realized that the blockade could and should be bypassed. Initially, there were proxies through which users could communicate with the outside world. But by 2012, the government caught up with them. Then a boom began in the country<\/p>\n

; services that have been operating in China for a long time can today withstand even the Communist Party Congress, although during this significant event foreign traffic is blocked throughout the country, and life comes to a standstill everywhere. VPN<\/a>Protectionism and VPN Expansion Imagine that all the resources you currently use are blocked. You are left with only those that are not forbidden. Chinese IT companies started to grow wildly, creating local equivalents of Western services:<\/a> Youku<\/p>\n

instead of YouTube,<\/h3>\n

Weibo instead of Twitter,<\/a> Baidu instead of Google,<\/a> WeChat instead of messengers (and instead of other payment systems). Blockades helped China to start a successful protectionist policy.<\/a> Despite the abundance of Chinese services and applications, many tech-savvy users began to access the Internet through VPNs. These were small and illegal services that were constantly being blocked. Everything changed when Western VPN providers entered China in 2014-2015. The government required them to obtain special licenses or leave the country. Only government VPNs are legal here: such local services are licensed by the authorities and can be used by legal entities. Individuals \u2014 that is, ordinary citizens \u2014 may also use such a VPN, but only for educational or scientific purposes.<\/a> instead of messengers (and instead of other payment systems). The restrictions helped China implement a successful protectionist policy.<\/p>\n

Despite the abundance of Chinese services and applications, many tech-savvy users began to access the Internet through VPNs. These were small and illegal services that were constantly being blocked. Everything changed when Western VPN providers entered China in 2014-2015. The government mandated that they obtain special licenses or leave the country.<\/p>\n

Only state-approved VPNs are legal here: such local services obtain licenses from the authorities and can be used by legal entities. Individuals\u2014that is, regular citizens\u2014can also use such a VPN, but only for educational or scientific purposes.<\/p>\n

Naturally, China has done everything possible to make local VPNs more accessible than foreign ones. And that's exactly how it turned out. There is a certain VPN package available for use, but to access it, users must go through official registration, meaning they have to justify to the government their desire to bypass restrictions and provide their personal data. This hardly aligns with the principles of VPNs that we are all used to, right?<\/p>\n

A well-known funny incident occurred when the creator of the Great Firewall had to use a VPN to access a South Korean website while speaking to students. By the way, this was reported on Habr<\/a>. It's important to understand that using any (!) VPN in China is not expressly prohibited, but unlicensed providers could face<\/a> up to 6 years in prison.<\/p>\n

The essence of the Chinese model<\/h3>\n

The unique aspect of the Chinese control model is that they openly block everything. Did a new website get blacklisted? That is likely to be officially announced. Everything here is regulated by law, so blocking information is usually disclosed in the media beforehand.<\/p>\n

From my experience, the Chinese don't care much about blockages. They don't yearn for Facebook or Twitter. Most of them know no language other than Chinese: why would they need English-speaking YouTube when they can watch Chinese videos on Youku? Furthermore, Chinese design and the logic behind website structures are significantly different from what Europeans are used to.<\/p>\n

The main characteristic of China is that users are always offered alternatives to blocked resources. When Russia began to widely block Telegram, no one offered any other messenger in return. No one said, 'Guys, we created our own Telegram, specially adapted for Russians.' It's foolish of the proposal<\/a> to suggest using ICQ or TamTam from Mail.ru \u2014 that doesn't count.<\/p>\n

I do not support restrictions, but if something is blocked, it should benefit citizens: in China, within 3-4 years, IT companies that were previously unable to compete with foreign services are now entering the large market. The government provides them with various benefits and supports them in every way. China has created such a narrow economic circle through legal VPNs and control over the web space that local companies simply had no choice: they have all the conditions for growth. Many Chinese analogs of foreign hosting services are much better than the blocked ones.<\/p>\n

But there are drawbacks. For example, to launch your online project, you must obtain a special ICP license<\/a>. It is required for every website registered on the territory of China. It is issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China. This license allows you to register a domain, connect to a server, and bring your website onto provider networks. This is a long and bureaucratically complex procedure.<\/p>\n

\"State<\/p>\n

Screenshot of the main page of the Chinese Google \u2014 Baidu. The license number must be indicated in the footer of every Chinese website.<\/i><\/p>\n

Free Internet?<\/h3>\n

I have been in China since 2013 and can only work remotely thanks to a VPN. Previously, before starting work, I had to launch a bunch of different clients with different protocols, configuring them for 2-3 hours a day, and then I splurged on a paid service and have hardly experienced problems since.<\/p>\n

In China, I quickly realized that a free Internet is a myth. In fact, every country and region has its own firewall: practically everywhere, the network is controlled in one way or another. If I go online from a Russian server, I encounter many blocked resources that will be open in neighboring Kazakhstan. If I access from a Taiwanese server, most online cinemas and torrents will not work, just like in China. To feel freer, you need to know a specific set of servers and understand which resources are available in each country.<\/p>\n

The closed internet has already become a part of our world. Not only China but also South Korea and even Australia control their web spaces. In South Korea, however, things are a bit different; they block not resources but the material itself. The freest network, in my opinion, is currently in Japan, Estonia, Latvia, Germany, and Scandinavia.<\/p>\n

Artem Kozlyuk<\/b>, project manager at RosKomSvoboda, on the potential for the Chinese experience in Russia:<\/i><\/p>\n

The replication of China's restrictive model in Russia is impossible. Infrastructurally and historically, the internet in these countries has developed in completely different ways. The Chinese began building the \"Great Firewall\" back in the 90s, at the time of the internet's penetration into the country. In Russia, until 2012, the internet developed under free market conditions and through self-regulation. Thanks to this, we have thousands of providers and fast, inexpensive internet. Yes, since 2012, things have shifted towards stricter control of the internet industry: hosts, communication operators, and information intermediaries. But complete restriction is impossible due to profound structural reasons. Take, for instance, China's multi-million army of pro-government bloggers, the \"5 Mao Party\" (5 Mao = 50 kopecks: reportedly, that\u2019s how much bloggers are paid for a single comment on Weibo), which manually monitors the entire internet space. To exert influence on the Russian internet on a similar scale and create an effective censorship machine, Russia would need to invest billions of rubles. And that money is not available now. <\/i><\/p>\n

Of course, individual Chinese elements can be borrowed by Russia. It\u2019s not necessary to extrapolate but to arrive at similar views. This is already happening, but the use of VPNs helps circumvent restrictions. There are also loopholes in China, and if someone wants to access certain internet platforms, they can. However, the state provides citizens with relevant substitutes for foreign resources. Meanwhile, almost all Russian attempts to create services similar to Western ones have failed.<\/p>\n

What does the audience of Habr think about the possible repetition of the Chinese scenario in Russia? Especially now, when the \u2018sovereign internet\u2019 law has passed its first reading. Are there really so many differences?<\/p>\n

Source: habr.com<\/a><\/p>","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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