Experts warn that these VPNs, whether sold openly or installed at the airport, may not be safe.
Recently, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) stepped up its efforts to block virtual private networks (VPNs), tightening control over tools that allow internet users to bypass its broad censorship. The CCP has begun targeting both service providers and individual users, escalating fears of deepening surveillance inside China.
Under the CCP, major platforms including Google, Meta, and X, are blocked, along with foreign news sites critical of the regime. VPNs are often the only way for Chinese users to access uncensored information from the outside world.
But even as local users face increased scrutiny and technical roadblocks, some foreign travelers report being welcomed with “custom VPN access” upon arrival, which some experts say are used by the regime as surveillance tools.
Starting in May, Chinese social media users and cybersecurity observers began reporting a wave of intensified enforcement measures against VPN use across mainland China. Insiders familiar with the campaign told The Epoch Times that the Cyberspace Administration of China has deployed new, proactive tactics—obtaining VPN products on the open market so it can then trace their IP addresses and identify service providers. Once identified, authorities can then coordinate with domestic internet service providers (ISPs) to block the servers and investigate users.
“If a server is flagged as being used to bypass the firewall, its access point is shut down immediately,” said a Chinese data analyst who spoke to The Epoch Times on condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal. “And users can expect to be investigated.”
Underground VPN providers in China are also under mounting pressure. “It’s like a daily explosion,” one anonymous operator told The Epoch Times. “The Great Firewall is now cutting off outbound IPs in bulk every day at 4 p.m.—like flipping a switch. If this continues, domestic proxy tunnels could be completely wiped out.”
The effort to suppress VPN users has become so sophisticated that even next-generation VPN protocols remain stuck in testing, fueling an ongoing game of cat and mouse between underground tech developers and the CCP’s censors.
