For years, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has tightened its grip on the internet, restricting access to information and censoring content. However, millions of Chinese citizens are fighting back, using circumvention software to bypass the Great Firewall and uncover the real story both at home and abroad. International media reported on March 7th that late last year, a circumvention software provider who fled to the Netherlands revealed the extent of the CCP’s internet chokehold, how citizens slip past it, and the dirty secret of how the party profits from its firewall.
The software provider explained that internet restrictions became more stringent when Xi Jinping took power. In the past, regular citizens could create their own circumvention tools to bypass the firewall, but now, unless they piggyback off the big telecoms like China Mobile, Unicom, or Telecom and rent their servers, they are locked out of overseas sites. Two main reasons identified why people bother to bypass the firewall: the poor quality of Chinese news, which is filled with state propaganda, and the domestic blackout on information. During the Wuhan lockdowns, for example, one district was protesting to end restrictions while the neighbouring district had no clue, illustrating the tight censorship.
When significant events occur, such as Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan trip in 2022 or Li Keqiang’s death in 2023, circumvention providers saw a surge in orders. Li Keqiang’s death led to a huge spike in demand, as people inside China suspected foul play and wanted answers. Pelosi’s visit also caused a frenzy, with people eager to see if the CCP would follow through on its threats to shoot down her plane. When nothing happened, it exposed the party’s bluster.
Contrary to the belief that only elites bypass the firewall, the reality reveals that more number of common users bypass the firewall. The software provider shared a story about playing a June 4th documentary on his phone at a driving school, which stunned a coach in his 50s who hadn’t seen anything like it in decades. Once people break through the wall, they are hooked on accessing real information. Even college students are in on it, using circumvention software to follow K-pop or Western stars that skip Weibo, or for academic purposes when courses rely on foreign sites.
Big events in China, such as the White Paper Revolution in late 2022, lead to a surge in circumvention activity. During this time, Twitter and VPN downloads exploded, prompting the CCP’s internet police to scramble to stomp out circumvention tools. In cities like Shanghai, Beijing, and Wuhan, police stopped people to check their phones for any sign of wall-jumping apps or foreign software.
The first firewall dodgers in mainland China were tech-savvy individuals who rigged up basic proxy servers to slip past the blocks. These early efforts paved the way for the development of circumvention tools like Freegate and Ultrasurf. Today, the rough estimate is that 30 to 40 million people in China use circumvention software, often mislabelled as VPNs. Modern tools like V2Ray, Shadowsocks, Trojan, and Hysteria are designed to outsmart the firewall, while traditional VPNs like OpenVPN or L2TP struggle to work in China.
Circumvention software has become a full-blown industry, with providers making significant profits. It may be noted that their software costs about 5 to 10 Yuan to produce and is sold for 20 Yuan, resulting in substantial profits. The team of 30 handles nearly 500,000 orders a month; helping 1 to 3 million people bypass the firewall. Some companies in this industry make profit over 100 million Yuan monthly, with an estimated 20 to 30 million users.
In 2017, the BBC estimated that 20 to 30 million Chinese were using VPNs, while a Global Web Index survey hinted at up to 90 million. Silicon Valley engineer Jon Shan suggested that most people bypassing the firewall aren’t focused on politics, with only 4% to 6% of China’s 1.05 billion internet users doing so. Many are students playing overseas games, foreign firms, exporters, and cross-border e-commerce businesses.
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The story was shared about a client who couldn’t understand why Falun Gong was thriving overseas, even having media and Shen Yun shows. After visiting Hong Kong and seeing Falun Gong groups legally protesting, the client began to understand the importance of religious freedom and the existence of dissenting opinions. Changing mind-sets takes time, even for students at top universities.
Experts says that the CCP treats Chinese people as less than human, and if the firewall were torn down, millions of Chinese, including die-hard CCP supporters, would start seeing the truth. Once the party’s loyal base gets a dose of reality, it’s uncertain whether they would continue to support the CCP.
