Fear of brain drain from China under VPN regulation, Russia also ban VPN

ByPhilip McMaster

In China, Internet censorship system by government authorities "Great firewall"Is in operation, VPN (virtual private network) was widely used to avoid this mechanism. But in January 2017 the Chinese authoritiesEnhance policing of VPNBecause of that, there is a big restriction on free nets, and the aftermath has spread to the world of scientific research.

VPN crackdown an 'unthinkable' trial by firewall for China's research world | South China Morning Post
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2103793/vpn-crackdown-unthinkable-trial-firewall-chinas

Chinese researchers are using Google's search engine to make it possible to find enormous amounts of research papers and information existing in the world as far as examples of other countries are concerned. However, because Google search can not be used in China if it is normal, almost all researchers can use VPN owned by the research institution they belong to, or use private companies to pay the fee by themselves I have been using VPNs that I have. Using Baidu, also known as "Chinese version of Google", it is possible to do searches in China, but for researchers gathering information around the world it is not usable, there is no way to depend on Google.

Dr. Jose Pastor-Pareha who is conducting biology research at Tsinghua University in Beijing is one of them and uses daily Google search at "level once every ten" via VPN provided by university It is said that. However, since January 2017, the Chinese government has implemented a big campaign for 14 months and has launched the VPN regulation. This is carried out by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Information and Communication in China, saying, "There are indications that the market of Internet connection service in China is being cluttered and urgent regulation and management is necessary, Crackdown on connection services not approved by the government. This measure will be started on the same day as announced on January 22, 2017, and will be implemented until March 31, 2018.

ByIsaacMao

As it were, it was a VPN service that was overlooked as a regulatory loophole, but this campaign will have the effect of being said to be devastating. Dr. Pastor-Pareha is also concerned about the situation and said, "Everyone has used VPN in the same way, and if it is separated from other worlds, it is a truly competitive world top class research It is impossible to do, it is a really unexpected event. "

Freedom House, an NGO organization on democracy and human rights based in the United States of America, declines the efforts of the Chinese authorities as "the world's worst abuser against the freedom of the Internet" and that "interfering with the paths connected to other worlds , It will cause tremendous dissatisfaction and instability ", says the measures this time.

Professor John Zhang who studies chemistry at the New York University Shanghai school is also one who has been using the VPN provided by the university and said "The influence on my activities will be serious" in this measure. The existence of Google search is indispensable also in academic research field, and there is no other thing with accuracy and speed at the same level. Researchers who serve as professors at other universities also insist that "Baidu will not do anything in my research," Bassari affirms. Although the field of academic research has a dull movement to clarify the opinion on government censorship, the academic research field of China is greatly adversely affected unless there is a means to obtain information to fight at the same level as the world It is said that most viewpoints are.

ByIan Dick

The fact that such "deterioration of situation" is known to the world will lower the motivation of overseas researchers trying to conduct research in China, and the movement of researchers in China to flow out overseas also begins to occur It is said that there is. It is said that "brain drain" is going to start, as the owner of a superior brain seeks access to the latest information and goes abroad.

Although the scientific power of China that has produced superior scientists is admirable, it is hard to imagine that the act of cutting off that route in the world where information is instantaneously flighting on the Internet has a big negative impact. This kind of influence appears at the aim of controlling information by regulating VPN, so it is a place where interest is likely to be gathered as to what kind of measures the Chinese authorities will take.

By the way, there is a flow of banning VPN in Russia, and I am worried whether similar impact will appear.

Russia: Restricting the use of the Internet Adopted in the House without VPN, Demonstrations - Mainichi Newspaper
https://mainichi.jp/articles/20170724/ddm/007/030/077000c