New Delhi: Recent cover stories critical of the growing influence of Chinese President Xi Jinping have prompted China to block the websites of internationally acclaimed magazines The Economist and Time, adding them to the growing list of foreign news sites being banned by the Chinese government for being critical of their leadership.
GreatFire.org, a website that tracks internet and social media censorship in China, has said that The Economist's website and its cover article have been completely censored since April 2. The Economist's mobile app, through which users can download the magazine and read its online articles, has also been censored. Several public accounts managed by The Economist on WeChat, a popular Chinese social media app, have also been suspended.
The report further claims that people searching for Time’s website or the cover article that was critical of the Chinese President have been facing connection resets since April 5.
The alleged block imposed by China may be a fallout of the Great Firewall’s list of censored keywords. According to the internet control mechanism, the use certain set of keywords elicit a connection reset, which appears to be the case here.
The two magazines have been critical of XI Jinping’s leadership that they claimed has enabled him to wield immense influence in Chinese politics.
"He has retreated into the world of Mao: personality cults, plaudits to the state sector and diatribes against foreigners supposedly intent on destroying China," Hannah Beech of Time wrote.
"Mr. Xi has acquired more power than any Chinese leader since Mao Zedong," The Economist article states. "It was supposed to let him get things done. What is going wrong?"
(With agencies)
