Why are VPNs getting slower in China?
为什么 VPN 在中国的速度越来越慢？

“The internet is not beyond the law!” warned police in Fujian province earlier this month. They had recently arrested a man, identified as Mr Gong, for using a virtual private network (VPN). This is a piece of software that can make it appear as if a computer or mobile phone is in another country. VPNs thus allow netizens to bypass the “great firewall”, as China’s system of online censorship is known. By using one, Mr Gong had allowed “false foreign information” to flow into China, the police claimed.
他互联网不能超越法律！他们最近逮捕了一名名叫龚先生的男子，罪名是使用虚拟专用网络 （VPN）。这是一款软件，可以使计算机或手机看起来好像在另一个国家/地区。因此，VPN允许网民绕过“防火长城”，正如中国的在线审查系统所熟知的那样。警方称，通过使用一个，龚先生允许“虚假的外国信息”流入中国。

It is illegal to access a VPN in China without official permission. In practice, though, users are rarely punished. That is because the government understands the practical benefits of VPNs. Without them, foreigners would be less likely to visit and local businesses would struggle to find overseas customers. So Mr Gong’s case has come as a surprise. According to the police, he had last used a VPN four years ago. The chattering masses online believe the authorities are making an example of him.
未经官方许可在中国访问 VPN 是违法的。然而，在实践中，用户很少受到惩罚。那是因为政府了解 VPN的实际好处。没有他们，外国人不太可能来访，当地企业将难以找到海外客户。因此，龚先生的情况令人惊讶。据警方称，他上一次使用 VPN 是在四年前。网上喋喋不休的群众认为当局正在为他树立榜样。

The big question is whether, in general, the government is taking a firmer line on VPNs. Over the past few months several popular ones have become less reliable. Users have grumbled about difficulty accessing blacklisted websites, such as Facebook and Google. Our “ladders” over the great firewall have broken, say commenters on Weibo, a social-media site.
最大的问题是，一般来说，政府是否对 VPN采取了更坚定的立场。在过去的几个月里，一些流行的 S 变得不那么可靠了。用户抱怨难以访问列入黑名单的网站，例如 Facebook 和 Google。我们跨越防火墙的“梯子”已经断裂，社交媒体网站微博上的评论者说。

A tracking tool run by GreatFire, a censorship watchdog, backs up these complaints. Over the past 60 days a VPN from a company called ExpressVPN, one of the biggest providers of the software, has been running 41% slower than in the previous 60 days. Another VPN, from a company called Astrill, has been running 11% slower over the same period. In total, eight of the ten VPNs tracked by GreatFire have become more sluggish in China.
审查监督机构 GreatFire 运行的跟踪工具支持这些投诉。在过去的 60 天里，来自一家名为 ExpressVPN 的公司（该软件的最大提供商之一）的 VPN 的运行速度比过去 41 天慢了 60%。另一款来自一家名为 Astrill 的公司的 VPN 在同一时期运行速度慢了 11%。总的来说，GreatFire 跟踪的 10 个 VPN中有 8 个在中国变得更加缓慢。

Such disruptions have happened in the past. But they have usually coincided with important political events, such as the meeting of China’s legislature every spring. No such events are happening now. Another explanation points to China’s censorship regime, which has got tighter in recent years. Subjects that were once safe to talk about in a critical way online, such as the economy, are now deemed sensitive. Perhaps the government has started to think that the risks of VPNs outweigh the benefits, says a co-founder of GreatFire. ■
这种中断过去曾发生过。但它们通常与重要的政治事件同时进行，例如每年春天的中国人大会议。现在没有这样的事件发生。另一种解释指向中国的审查制度，该制度近年来变得更加严格。曾经可以在网上以批判性方式安全谈论的话题，例如经济，现在被认为是敏感的。也许政府已经开始认为 VPN的风险大于好处，GreatFire 的一位联合创始人说。 ■