China has been known to be one of the strictest countries in the world that applies VPN restrictions. While travelers can still use the virtual private connection that they bring from their home country without any problem, the Chinese citizens are discouraged from using any type of VPN service unless it is necessary for their business. Even so, businesses need to get the permission from the government to use the VPN service, and the use of such a service for their business is subject to monitoring from the government.
It has become a real problem for many people in this country when they try to use any type of private connection service since not all VPN services work in this country. This is partly because the Chinese Great Firewall has a very strong encryption system that prevents anyone from bypassing the government’s internet restrictions. Only a handful of reputable VPN service providers can bypass the firewall of China and provide access to internet freedom from within this country. Here are the reasons why most VPN services can’t be used in China to unblock the great firewall:
1. The Chinese Government Uses An Advanced DPI System
While most countries that restrict the internet activity of their citizens will use the technology called DPI or Deep Packet Inspection to monitor their network traffic, the great firewall of China is in a whole new level when it comes to DPI application. The government uses an advanced DPI system that keeps on improving every day, adding more lists of blocked websites and online services. Not only that, it keeps on being upgraded in terms of security and protection against bypassing the firewall itself, meaning that the government will add the list of blocked VPN services on the daily basis as well. This is what makes it difficult for regular services to bypass the internet restriction in this country.
2. The Government Bans Nearly All Available VPN Software And Apps
The country-wide VPN ban will be fully in effect starting in 2018, meaning that the government will become very strict in monitoring the network traffic of their citizens. Before the ban, VPN services are widely available for the citizens to download without any problem, and they are available both for desktop and mobile platforms. However, after a series of incidents when people use their private connection to disrupt the Chinese government, the government has to take the bold step to ban all of those private proxies from the mobile and desktop platforms. Lots of regular VPN services are getting affected by this ban.
3. Most Available Private Connections Don’t Offer An Advanced Stealth Technology
Another reason why it is very difficult for a regular private connection to bypass the Chinese government’s firewall is because the firewall has an advanced DPI technology that can only be bypassed by a certain VPN technology. The stealth technology that is available only on reputable VPN services with a more expensive subscription fee is the only safe bet for Chinese users to access the websites that are blocked by the government. It uses the cloaking server, and a modified protocol to ensure that the Chinese’s DPI system can’t detect the private connection.
4. Most VPN Services Only Offer Regular Encryptions
While the encryption protocol used by the VPN service will determine how effective it is to bypass the Chinese government blocking, most VPN services only offer regular encryptions for their users. As a result, they can’t be used for heavy-duty encryption like bypassing the Chinese great firewall, which is why most of them are unusable in this country. Most regular private connections only use PPTP or L2TP protocol while the minimum encryption protocol that they need to have to bypass the blocking is the OpenVPN protocol. Usually, the OpenVPN protocol needs to be modified first before it can really work in this country.
5. The Government Blocks Individual Connections That Use Private Servers Or Proxy
The Chinese government is very active in finding individuals that use the private connection to access the outside websites. In fact, there are some cases when the government needs to arrest the individuals just for using the private connection on their device. Then, they will either put the individuals in jail or demand a big fine for trespassing the government’s DPI system. This is what makes it difficult for most people to access the blocked websites in this country, and it is also the reason why most of them don’t bother trying because they fear the consequences that they will get from doing so.
Those are the reasons why most VPN services can’t be used in China to unblock the great firewall. However, it is not impossible for you to unblock the website restrictions from this country, especially if you are a traveler. You just need to use a reputable VPN connection that offers the stealth feature that is designed to bypass the Chinese Great Firewall so that your private connection won’t be detected by the DPI system in this country.