Alec Dietz

T427
Paper 3
7/31/14

The Great Firewall of China

The Peoples Republic of China, or more commonly referred to as
China, is one of the most prominent developing nations in the global
spectrum in the 21st century. Chinas GDP growth rates in the last
decade alone surpass developed nations such as Japan and Germany,
and these rates are only estimated to rise as China continues to invest
interest in the international community (Orlick, 2012). Even though
China has begun to take larger interest in the global business in terms
of its economic views, its social, cultural, and political views are
strongly rooted in communism, as a centralized communist party
governs the entire country. With the fact that there are an estimated
1.35 billion people who inhabit China, the primary concern of the ruling
elite is how to control and mediate such a large mass of individuals,
and furthermore remain in absolute power. In the 21st century, the
newest and largest medium that challenges the control and absolute
power of Chinas government is the Internet.
When the Internet first breached the shores of China in 1994, the
communist ruling elite envisioned how such a powerful tool could be
utilized to instill values in a top-down fashion, and hence further
control and manipulate the massive Chinese population (Internet

Censorship, 2014). As Internet capability and access began to rise

over the next decade, the ruling class soon realized that this new tool
facilitated the exact opposite effect they had originally envision, as it
allowed the Chinese people to communicate horizontally with one
another. In a nation with a ruling elite class, lateral communication
among masses is extremely detrimental to the security of control and
power as it allows people to share ideas, congregate, and undermine
the ruling class through propaganda, or simply viewing the rest of the
world through this medium. As a result, the Chinese rulers were
forced to create a system or entity that could control and furthermore
survey the people of Chinas Internet activities. Under the justification
of national security, the Chinese Communist party developed The
Golden Shield Project, a massive firewall and surveillance system that
heavily regulates and monitors Internet use and activity in China
(Breaking, 2009).
To put the vastness of Internet use in China in perspective; the
Chinese continent has over 618 million Internet users, a number that
nearly doubles the U.S population as a whole. In 2013 alone, the
number of Internet users in China increased 9.5 percent (Hoffman,
2013). With these statistics in mind, one can begin to see why the
ruling communist party of China would be extremely concerned about
controlling and monitoring this entity. Through its implementation of
The Golden Shield Project or dubbed The Great Firewall of China, the

Chinese government has complete control of all Internet access routes.

No privatized or independent Chinese organizations are allowed
complete ownership of any of the countrys bandwidth, hence all
activity and information shared or explicated must travel through
governmental networks, where they can be reviewed and analyzed
(Shaun, 2009).
According to the Chinese government, The Golden Shield filters
and blocks access to websites that promote democracy, demine or
challenge the ruling elite, and facilitate communication of opinions or
ideas in general (blogs) (Internet Censorship, 2014). There are
multiple ways in which Golden Shield is able to systematically
diagnose, filter, and block these websites that challenge the power of
the Chinese government, and furthermore track who exactly is
attempting to access them. The first and most basic method is
blocking IP addresses. In the circumstance that a particular IP address
is considered banned, The Golden Shield is able to trace its address
back to the host server, and in effect ban all other IP address facilitated
through that particular host. Finding one illegal website leads to a
chain reaction effect of banning others closely related to original
(Hoffman, 2013).
Another method implemented by The Golden Shield is called
domain name system blocking or DNS blocking. The Golden Shield
system has a database of flagged words or website domains that are

considered harmful or degrading to the security of the nation. When

anyone in China attempts to access such sites, the filtering system
easily catches and blocks access as the government has complete
control of all Internet access routes in the country (Breaking, 2009).
While an Internet user in China is looking at a particular web page, The
Golden Shield continues to systematically monitor the site for flagged
words, images, and comments. If the system finds anything on the site
that is deemed as restricted, it can quickly cut access, track the IP
back the server host, and continue to block all of its affiliated sites
(Breaking, 2009).
A huge key to The Golden Shields immense success as an
Internet censorship and surveillance device also lies in its ability to
control information and websites referenced through search engines.
Baidu is Chinas largest and most frequently used search engine and is
even publically traded in the global market (Baidu, 2014). However,
Baidu is also one of the Chinese governments most effective
censorship mechanisms, as the websites users are directed to via
Baidu are only ones approved by the government who deems them
appropriate through their firewall system.
In more recent years, Internet users in China have been able to
bypass The Golden Shield system though the help of VPNs or virtual
private networks. VPNS allow Chinese Internet users to gain access to
privatized and uncensored network connections around the globe, and

furthermore allows them access to international proxy servers which

allowed their web use to be untracked and completely uncensored
(Shaun, 2009). As the Internet continues to develop and evolve with
advances in both technical knowledge and application, The Golden
Shield is going to have to keep on its toes to ensure that its impressive
firewalls cannot be breached by the outside world, or those in their
own country looking to the outside world for a freer Internet.
In terms of the overall fluidity and effeteness of The Golden
Shield, many have considered the Great Firewall of China to be the
most powerful Internet censorship system on the entire globe (Pal,
2009). This being said, there are numerous methods reported by
international computer engineers and hacking geniuses that claim
there are still various ways for Internet users in China to bypass The
Golden Shield. Even though recently The Golden Shield has been
cracking down on virtual private networks and their ability to allow
access to proxy servers, the wide majority of users still are able to
bypass the system (Shaun, 2009). This is due largely to the fact that
new privatized virtual networks are extremely easy to construct; hence
The Golden Shield may shut one VPN or proxy server down while a
dozen more are created.
Because of Chinas vast population of Internet users, The
Golden Shield has an incredible amount of information and user
activity to monitor, track, block, and filter. In a study conducted by the

organization Reporters Without Borders, they claimed that more people

are imprisoned due to their Internet activity, specifically voicing their
opinions, than any other nation in the world (Internet, 2014). This is
largely to the fact that over 600 million Chinese people have access to
the Internet, but also because of the vast police force that carries out
The Golden Shields fist of control and censorship. It is estimated that
the Chinese government has employed anywhere from thirty to fifty
thousand individuals who dedicate the entirety of their jobs to
monitoring the Internet. One can begin to see the sheer cost of such a
powerful yet paranoid entity that is the Chinese government.
Many nations view the Internet as a communication and
information miracle of modern times. In the 21st century, the entire
world is flat and openly connected to all facets of the globe to share
news, entertainment, ideas, information, and the human experience in
general through the Internet. However, Chinas controlling government
does not seem to agree with this positive and open perspective. The
entire world is now interconnected, and any nation that chooses to be
among the most powerful and wealthy simply cannot choose to avoid
or pass on the global ball game. I would argue that ultimately, the
Chinese government is faced with an extremely huge dilemma; how
can we rule the world while keeping our people out of it? For now, The
Golden Shield and its incredibly massive and ever powerful
surveillance and censorship capabilities may be sufficient enough, but I

theorize that there is a breaking point. The Internet is allowing the

people of China to access the entire world, and as a result, place their
realities in a rather important perspective. In my opinion, the ultimate
desire for information and freedom by the people will surpass the
oppressive power of a small elite ruling class. Ignorance will no longer
be an option; hence, revolution will seek the necessary changes to
overthrow a system that attempts to facilitate it.

Works Cited
1. Orlick, T. (2012, November 16). Charting Chinas Economy: 10 Years
Under Hu

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2. Breaking Through the Golden Shield. (2009, December 6). .
Retrieved July 30,
2014, from
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3. Hoffman, C. (2013, February 2). HTG Explains: How the Great
Firewall of China
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Internet
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