Jack Yan: the Persuader Blog: Banned in Red China

The Politburo has found me! A few months ago, I learned that this blog could still be accessed in Red China, but no longer. According to the Great Firewall of China, the test shows that this site and blog are blocked in the parts of China that are not free; but, knowing we Chinese, there’ll be some clever buggers coming here through anonymous proxies.
The cynic in me says the Firewall site is set up by Red Chinese to compile URLs to block!
No prizes for guessing just what I think about this dubious honour and how it conﬂicts with my beliefs of a free and borderless internet. I am just happy that, for a time, fellow Chinese behind the Bamboo Curtain had this little beacon.
I should also note that such tests are not always accurate. I had heard of being banned before, and Great Firewall conﬁrmed then that this site was still accessible.

PS.: It did turn out that the Firewall test was inaccurate, since I have had a comment from a Chinese user.—JY

Posted by Jack Yan, 23:47 permalink

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to the club mate!

# posted by

mark: 5/09/2007 03:03:00 AM

Cheers, Mark! In my case, I totally understand why the stuff I write could be thought of as ‘counter-revolutionary’, though it is funny I still get asked by Red Chinese ofﬁcials to help on things and maintain some real governmental contacts inside (not everyone who is a Party member is a ratbag). Still, I ﬁnd it odd how some very innocent blogs about baking or other harmless topics also face the ban.
May I ask after your blog address so I can come visiting?

# posted by

Jack Yan: 5/09/2007 03:32:00 AM

I wish I was banned! It means that someone thinks your blog has impact. Come on, world, ban me! Please!

# posted by

Dawn: 5/09/2007 03:47:00 AM

I live here and am routinely blocked....sometimes the Great Firewall site gets it wrong. Here is another resource for you: http://www.websitepulse.com/help/testtools.china-test.html

Greetings from the Middle Kingdom

# posted by

Lonnie: 5/09/2007 12:15:00 PM

Your stuff deserves a global audience, Dawn. Mine, well, advocating the freedom of Chinese people does not go down well in Beijing.

# posted by

Jack Yan: 5/09/2007 12:51:00 PM

Lonnie, good to hear from you, and good to know I am not blocked! I thought the Firewall site got it wrong.
It would be a shame for my blog to be unreachable from within the mainland. Sure, some posts really push the envelope (which is probably why this blog is read!), but others are very beneﬁcial for Chinese trade (e.g. my posts about NAC and SAIC).
All in all, this is a balanced blog.

# posted by

Jack Yan: 5/09/2007 03:02:00 PM