Frequently readers must have noticed the slowdown in updating of this blog, and should understand. Ever since the Xi-Li regime took over, it has been increasingly suffocating in Beijing, even at the peak of the epic APEC blue. Expats are no longer exempted from fear of being at the wrong end of law. Angela Kockritz of Die Zeit recounted her escaping from the judicial system of China, after she managed to flee by air, accompanied by two German diplomats who were equally lost and confused.
About a month ago, Google was totally blocked. Chinese could no longer send email to a Gmail address. About a week ago, unregistered VPN services were blocked.
"There will be a way (to circumvent the GFW with technical means)", some external observers say. However, it's not about technology any more, when the political pressure has been cooked to this level. When the internal pressure is high enough, the system can seal any small leaks on itself.
Google reported that the entire Internet in China has by and large become a giant Intranet, thus Chinternet. According to Google's study, before the total block was implemented last month, only 3% of the traffic volume on the Chinese Internet was out bounding with most going to Google. In other words, at this time, Chinese no longer seek to visit foreign Internet services. It's a result of a continuous effort to cripple and disable foreign Internet services. Foreign Internet services had been bearing with a stigma of uncertain and unreliable. The government has strategically fostered domestic superior (reliable) 'alternatives': Baidu (Google), Weibo (Twitter), Renren (Facebook), Tudou (Youtube), Alibaba (eBay), etc.
The wall is getting taller, which is not news. But it is worth noting that Chinese people are no longer interested in going over the wall.
