China is one of the world’s fastest growing economies and a major contributor to science and technology, but it appears as though the country’s progress is also its hindrance in being globally connected.
Bloomberg columnist Justin Fox believes so too in an article featuring his recent visit to the country and first-hand experience in Web access in China.
Accessing the Web in China
Fox recently went to China to attend the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions held at the Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin.
At the time, he lauded the amazing modern advancements he witnessed, including the building itself which he described as "a sleek aircraft-hangar of a building."
He also noticed the sophisticated feel of having been able to stream the event he was supposed to attend in a café via WiFi access.
But that is where the praise ends because then he begins to note that while the connection is fast, it is very limited especially when connecting to the rest of the world.
"I could search on Bing, but not Google," he noted, listing down some of the websites that can and cannot be accessed from China. "Sometimes my Bloomberg email functioned okay, but Gmail never did. Evernote worked, Dropbox didn't. And if I wanted to check Facebook or Twitter, or read something on a Western news site, or--God forbid--watch a show on Netflix, I was completely out of luck."
According to Fox, China's stern Great Firewall is to blame for all of this, noting that the "free-for-all" Internet in the country remains within the bounds of the government's comfort.
President Xi Jinping on Internet Access
It is no secret that under its ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), the Asian giant has become secluded from the world, Internet-wise.
According to China.org, this is because cybersecurity became one of the biggest priorities in the Chinese government, so much so that President Xi Jinping called for an extensive crackdown on potential risks in accessing the World Wide Web.
Xi explained that he believes that the "correct outlook on cybersecurity" is to establish a comprehensive system to prevent sensitive information from going in or out of the country
However, when asked about the management of China's internal Internet, Xi said that the country does not aim to "shut her door to the world" and even emphasized the importance of public opinion that is usually presented via social media.