People in China know how to read web sites and use email services banned in the country. They use a technology called a virtual private network, which masks their location. It’s a fact of life in China, one of the many understood digital annoyances for a Westerner traveling there, among bringing a wiped laptop and “burner” mobile phone on the assumption some arm of Chinese cybersecurity will steal your data. (In 2017, when Fortune journalists traveled to Guangzhou for the Fortune Global Forum, an event celebrating international commerce in China, our IT department issued us loaner laptops and phones. This is common practice for big American businesses.)
