China goes after unauthorized VPN access from local ISPs

China is going after unauthorized internet connections, including tools known as virtual private networks, which can bypass China’s efforts to control the web.

The crackdown is part of a 14-month campaign from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology that's meant to clean up the country’s internet service provider market.

Unless authorized, ISPs are forbidden from operating any “cross-border” channel business, including VPNs, the ministry said in a Sunday notice.  

The announcement is unusual. The country has typically withheld from openly campaigning against VPN use, even as government censors have intermittently tried to squelch access to them in the past.  

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