Have they though? Everybody I know who grew up in China has told me its trivial to bypass restrictions with VPNs

It’s a deliberate “pressure valve.” China tolerates access for productivity but retains a kill switch for sensitive periods: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/how-...

IshKebab 24 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Apparently they use traffic analysis now so it's difficult to bypass even with VPNs.

p0w3n3d 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The question is what do you win when found using VPN?

	▲	feverzsj an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		You phone and computer will be checked thoroughly using automated tools. If they didn't find any sensitive keyword, you'll be fined and recorded in the system. If they find something, a detention for at least 3 days or ... forever. That's the standard procedure. But polices in developed areas usually treat them like antragsdelikte(no trial without a complaint).
	▲	bspammer 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		There is pretty much no risk. It’s expected you will use a VPN, you can talk about it openly in public. Now, if you’re doing something unrelated that the administration doesn’t like, you can expect VPN use to be included in the long list of charges.

peyton 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Depending on where you are, “everybody I know who grew up in China” may not be an unbiased sample w.r.t. ideology, forthcomingness, or truth-telling.

"bypass restrictions" meaning put on a list of people to closely watch.