New | China blocks VPN services that let users get round its ‘Great Firewall’ during big political gatherings in Beijing

The authorities in China have intensified their crackdown on VPNs, internet connections that bypass the country’s firewalls and online censorship, during the two main political gatherings of the year in Beijing this month.

Virtual private network users and one provider said services had been disrupted or blocked during the National People’s Congress and a meeting of China’s main political advisory body.

Astrill, a popular paid VPN service provider, said in a short statement: “Due to political meetings in Beijing there’s increased censorship, so access to VPN may be restricted at this time. Please be patient while we are working to fix this.”

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Users of other services, such as Cloud Ark VPN and ExpressVPN, have also complained about outages or slowdowns in the speed of their internet connections, particularly on mobile phones.

Some mainland service providers, including Xiaoyao, have also reported the suspension of services.

Foreigners living in China said the disruption has affected their daily life and business.

One Twitter user wrote on his account: “@astrill, I did not sigh up for a two year contract for this … already without VPN for one week in China! Has affected my business, not happy.”