From the New York Times
China Clamps Down on Web, Pinching Companies Like Google
By Keith Bradshur and Paul Mozur
Google’s problems in China just got worse.
As part of a broad campaign to tighten internal security, the Chinese government has draped a darker shroud over Internet communications in recent weeks, a situation that has made it more difficult for Google and its customers to do business....
Google began encrypting users’ searches and results all over the world early this year, partly in response to the former National Security Agency contractor Edward J. Snowden’s disclosures about United States government surveillance. That shift by Google — using Internet addresses that start with “https” — made it harder for Chinese censors to determine who was pursuing the types of inquiries that they discourage.
But the Chinese government responded on May 29 by blocking virtually all access to Google websites, instead of just imposing 90-second delays when banned search terms were used. Experts initially interpreted the move as a security precaution ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown on June 4. But the block has largely remained in place ever since.
“Internet security is being raised to a much higher degree,” said Xiao Qiang, a specialist in Chinese Internet censorship at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Information. “It overrides the other priorities, including commerce or scientific research.”...