In China's hotel lobbies, small gaps in "Great Firewall" are closing

Shangri-La Asia

01/08/2017 11:53

* China tightening control over domestic internet, online 
content 
    * Hotels say some sites blocked by "Great Firewall" 
accessible 
    * Others say have stopped offering VPN services 
    * Regulator has told suppliers to stop hotel VPN 
recommendations 
 
    By Pei Li and Cate Cadell 
    BEIJING, Aug 1 (Reuters) - In China, the plush international 
hotel lobby has been one of the few places to find gaps in the 
"Great Firewall", a sophisticated system that denies online 
users access to blocked content such as foreign news portals and 
social media platforms like Facebook  FB.O  and Twitter 
 TWTR.N . 
    Now, though, that small crack in the system may be closing, 
too, as Beijing tightens control over what it sees as its 
domestic cyberspace, mimicking real-world border controls and 
subject to the same laws as sovereign states. 
    Regulators have warned firms providing internet networks for 
hotels to stop offering, or helping to install, virtual private 
networks (VPNs) into hotel systems - tools that allow users to 
evade, at least partially - China's internet censors. 
    "We received notices recently from relevant (government) 
departments, so we don't make recommendations anymore," said a 
marketing manager at Chinese hotel network provider AMTT 
Digital, who is not named as he is not authorised to talk to the 
media. He added this was linked to increased government scrutiny 
over the use of unauthorized VPNs.  
    VPNs create a 'tunnel' through the Great Firewall allowing 
users to access blocked content outside China's borders. 
Companies in China routinely use VPNs for their businesses, 
which Beijing has said are not currently under threat. 
    A notice from the Waldorf Astoria in Beijing, circulated 
online, said the hotel had stopped offering VPN services. 
    A Waldorf official declined to comment, but several staff 
said the hotel no longer offered VPN services. "(VPNs) don't 
accord with Chinese law," one staffer told Reuters. "So we don't 
have this anymore." 
    A leading internet network provider to hotels in China, AMTT 
Digital says it works with more than 30 global hotel chains 
including Marriott  MAR.O , InterContinental  IHG.L , Shangri-La 
 0069.HK , Wyndham  WYN.N , Starwood and Hilton  HLT.N .  
    Previously, the firm, which is backed by several funds 
including ones with government ties, would recommend 
"certified", or government approved, VPNs, the manager said, 
which would then be incorporated into hotels' internal networks. 
    "We would make recommendations of certified VPN providers 
and then incorporate them into the gateway so it runs smoothly," 
he said. "But it is up to the hotel to decide if they want it." 
    China's Ministry of Information Industry and Technology 
(MIIT), which oversees regulation of VPNs, did not respond to 
requests for comment. 
    As it clamps down further on access to outlawed online 
content, Beijing has recently closed dozens of China-based VPNs, 
overseas providers have seen rolling attacks on their services, 
the WhatsApp encrypted messaging app was disrupted, and telecoms 
firms have been enlisted to extend China's domestic internet 
control.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1KA4LR 
    U.S. tech giant Apple Inc  AAPL.O  pulled dozens of VPN apps 
from its App Store in China at the weekend, drawing criticism 
from app providers who said it was bowing to pressure from 
Beijing's cyber regulators.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1KL01Q 
    "We're in the middle of the storm right now with the 
government fiercely cracking down on VPNs," said Lin Wei, a 
Beijing-based network security expert at Qihoo 360 Technology 
Co. "It's really hard for ordinary people to find anywhere they 
can get on sites like Google." 
     
    GOOGLE, BUT NO TWITTER 
    The 'neutered' hotel VPNs, which staff and analysts said 
were often installed with tacit approval from authorities, 
already underline sensitivities of even ceding small amounts of 
control. 
    President Xi Jinping has overseen a marked sharpening of 
China's cyberspace controls, including tough new data 
surveillance and censorship rules. This push is now ramping up 
ahead of an expected consolidation of power at the Communist 
Party Congress this autumn. 
    Guests at the InterContinental hotel on the east side of 
Beijing can search on Alphabet Inc's  GOOGL.O  Google search 
engine or check their email on Gmail - a business need for many 
travellers, but both otherwise widely blocked in China.  
    But they can't access Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, which 
are banned by the government.  
    China also routinely blocks sensitive content online such as 
searches for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests or, more 
recently, coverage of imprisoned Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, who 
died from cancer last month. These topics are searchable, 
though, in China using a VPN connection. 
    Technical staff at five other hotels in Beijing, including 
Crowne Plaza, Hilton and Shangri-La, said guests could still 
access some blocked websites, though others were often still 
off-limits. Officials at the hotels declined to comment. 
    Other hotels Reuters spoke to said they did not offer VPN 
services because it did not accord with government rules. 
    "It's a compromise the hotels are making," said Lin, the 
network security expert. VPNs were not technically illegal, but 
were in a "grey area" and "for well-known reasons" authorities 
were cracking down on them. 
    Staff and guests at a number of hotels said some kind of VPN 
service was still on offer, either built into the hotel's wifi 
network or on demand to guests who needed access. 
    Reuters visited the InterContinental and Crowne Plaza in 
Beijing, both owned by InterContinental Hotels Group, where 
Google and Gmail were unblocked. A worker at the Hilton Beijing 
hotel said the same sites should be accessible. 
    Officials at IHG and Hilton did not respond to requests for 
comment. 
    Some hotels went further. 
    A technician at the Pangu 7 Star Hotel in Beijing, owned by 
exiled tycoon Guo Wengui, said resident guests could get full 
internet access, including sites like Facebook and Twitter, 
through its VPN-enabled "Pangu global" wifi network. 
    "We have a special VPN to cross the Great Firewall," the 
worker told Reuters. "But it's a little bit slow." 
    Reuters couldn't reach Pangu officials for comment. 
 
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Graphic: China's 'Great Firewall'    http://tmsnrt.rs/2udDkCR 
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 (Reporting by Pei Li and Cate Cadell; Writing by Adam Jourdan; 
Editing by Ian Geoghegan) 
 ((adam.jourdan@thomsonreuters.com; +86 21 6104 1778; Reuters 
Messaging: adam.jourdan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: CHINA VPN/HOTELS