International VPN software manufacturer LetsVPN has announced the termination of its operations in mainland China. The software has long been used by users to bypass the internet censorship imposed by the Chinese government. Insiders have reported that the Chinese authorities have classified VPNs as “tools for subverting state power.”
In recent times, authorities across China have imposed comprehensive restrictions on the use of VPN tools, commonly known as “climbing over the wall.” Enterprise users are required to register and apply for usage, while personal usage is deemed illegal and subject to penalties. The targeted “point-to-point blocking” of VPN tools by the authorities has led to frequent disruptions in VPN services purchased by Chinese users.
On April 28, the VPN software LetsVPN, known for its slogan “always able to connect,” announced its withdrawal from the mainland China market. In a statement on its official website, it cited service interruptions due to force majeure since April, acknowledging that the technical team was unable to restore connections in the short term under continued pressure to block VPN services. Consequently, they have closed mainland China payment channels and are processing user refunds.
Recently, many users on platforms like X and Weibo have reported connection issues, citing frequent disconnections, stability problems, and questioning membership fees. Over the past two weeks, LetsVPN has also been posting on X, stating that the technical team is working to resolve system issues.
A networking technology company engineer in mainland China, Nie Dawei, told Dajiyuan that since March, VPNs have been blocked, and the situation has worsened over the past month. He noted that it has become increasingly difficult for people to bypass the internet restrictions: “Several major network operators are now cooperating to block VPNs. This national-level system upgrade has significantly enhanced their blocking capabilities. In the past, it was possible to bypass the restrictions, but now even upgraded VPNs can’t get around it.”
Since March this year, public security bureaus in various provinces and cities in China have launched successive crackdowns on “climbing over the wall” activities. By mid-April, the actions were further escalated, coordinated by the Cyberspace Administration of China and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in conjunction with China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom, the three major telecommunications operators, directly monitoring and penalizing VPN users.
A personnel from the Cyberspace Administration in northwestern China, known as He Xun, disclosed to Dajiyuan that the increased phenomenon of netizens sharing content from overseas websites in chat groups through screenshots and brief descriptions has raised alarms among the higher authorities. They believe that this is an attempt by external forces to subvert China (the Chinese Communist Party) and impacts social stability, similar to the narrative put forward by the Ministry of State Security yesterday claiming that the “lying flat” phenomenon was brainwashing by anti-China forces from abroad. They attribute the origin of the “lying flat” movement to external influences, providing a rational explanation for internet censorship.
On April 28, the Chinese Ministry of State Security attributed the popular “lying flat” trend in recent years to infiltration by external forces, stating that there are organized forces behind the related discussions. This explanation has sparked widespread debate online, with many netizens questioning it and expressing sarcastic comments.
He Xun mentioned that the authorities’ crackdown on VPN tools was premeditated: “On one hand, it prevents ordinary people from seeing the outside world and comparing it to the harsh realities inside China. On the other hand, they have long planned to block internet access. The Chinese Communist Party knows that overseas information flowing into China poses the greatest threat to them. They started by monitoring chat group conversations, now they are monitoring the dissemination of overseas information, and their final measure is to shut it all down.”
Mr. Shen, familiar with VPN tools, analyzed that aside from hindering netizens from accessing the outside world, this VPN crackdown also impacts businesses’ commercial activities, benefiting the Chinese Communist Party but harming the people.
He elaborated, “This is not a single-point blockade but a comprehensive system that can scan all computer terminals within the region, identify who is using VPN tools, which machines are in use, IP addresses—all VPN tools can be detected and agents can immediately visit you. This has never happened before.”
In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party has continuously tightened its control over the internet, from filtering keywords to regulating platforms and restricting cross-border data flows, progressively restricting the online space. VPNs, as essential tools for bypassing censorship, have always been under intense suppression. Technological experts point out that this current VPN crackdown by the Chinese authorities is not targeting a specific software but focusing on identifying protocol features and traffic behavior to render traditional VPN methods ineffective.