China's Push to Foster Tech Startups at Risk From Net Crackdown
- Government is said to have ordered a block on personal VPNs
- The ban threatens China’s ambitions to rival Silicon Valley
China wants to create the world’s next Silicon Valley, but will the world’s top inventors and entrepreneurs want to work in an environment cut off from the global internet?
That’s the question now rattling through startup communities from Beijing to Shenzhen as the country’s government takes the first steps toward closing one of the few remaining paths around its strict censorship controls. Chinese officials are said to have told telecommunications carriers to block individuals from using personal virtual private networks by February. That would eliminate the way local people, students and expats now access banned websites -- to search on Google, connect with friends on Facebook, read stories from the New York Times or check the latest Twitter posts from Donald Trump.