
GitHub says Chinese developers are safe from export restrictions
Developers will not lose access to open source code simply because the platform is based in the US
GitHub has allayed some of the fears that it will cut off access to open source code in China, leaving a vital tool open for the country’s developers.
“Developers can continue to engage in these repositories,” a spokesperson for GitHub said.
GitHub is the world’s largest code hosting platform. It stores countless open source code projects that people from around the world can view and collaborate on, which means losing access would be a major headache.
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Open source software is a part of many of our favorite online products like Facebook or Netflix. Some tech is made entirely on open source code including Mozilla Firefox, Linux and Google’s mobile OS Android.
For this reason, a ban would not only have hurt Chinese companies but also innovation around the world, local developers said.
“For developers, source code is a very important resource,” director of operations for Open Source China (OSChina) Liu Chen told us in an earlier interview.

Still, GitHub did not mention access to their paid products such as the Enterprise Server, which offers more features. The platform already restricts some countries subject to the EAR from accessing its Enterprise Server, including Iran and North Korea.
“While GitHub is committed to full compliance with applicable law, we also examine government mandates thoroughly to be certain that users and customers are not impacted beyond what is required by law,” the company said in a statement.
Although things seem to have worked out for Chinese developers in this case, fears about being cut off from foreign technology have sparked a debate about self-sufficiency. That question now looms over Huawei and other Chinese tech companies in their pursuit to build more tech in-house.
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