Wall Street Journal | March 22, 2011 | Loretta Chao
BEIJING—Weeks of government disruption of Google Inc.’s email service and of services used to circumvent Web censorship is fueling frustration among Internet users in China and raising concerns the curbs may be long-lasting.
Google, after getting complaints for weeks, on Monday accused Chinese authorities of interfering with its Gmail in a way “carefully designed to look like the problem is with Gmail.” The site isn’t entirely blocked, but users report problems ranging from inconsistent access to difficulties loading their inboxes, sending emails and using the chat function. Subscribers also have had problems with Google Reader.
At the same time, many users have had difficulty accessing what are called “virtual-private network” services like WiTopia, 12vpn and Strongvpn.com. Such services, which encrypt Internet traffic and route it through servers outside China, are increasingly used in China to circumvent government Internet controls.
The recent increase in disruption follows online calls for “Jasmine Revolution” protests in China last month, which triggered a heavy government response.
Internet users in China are accustomed to increased difficulties accessing overseas websites and Web services during politically sensitive times. But the Internet curbs have persisted even though protest threats have ebbed and the annual session of the legislature, the National People’s Congress—always a politically sensitive period—concluded last Monday.
“Disrupting Gmail is equal to blocking our business correspondence,” a user named Zhang Yuming complained on Sina Weibo, a popular Twitter-like microblogging services.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology didn’t respond to requests for comment. Officials rarely explain the workings of their Internet controls.
In a statement, 12vpn said its service, while not completely blocked, has been affected along with many other popular VPN services in recent weeks. For that reason it is discouraging new sign-ups from China until “we better understand the risk of continued blocking efforts.” Witopia and Strongvpn couldn’t immediately be reached.
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