Rogue Nation

The Tech Challenge of Reporting Under China’s Watchful Eye
By JANE PERLEZ

Jane Perlez, The New York Times bureau chief in Beijing, at the cafe at the Met Breuer in New York on Tuesday. 

How do New York Times journalists use technology in their jobs and in their personal lives? The Times’s bureau chief in Beijing discussed the tech she is using.

As Beijing bureau chief, what is it like to try to get information online given China’s Great Firewall, the system of filters and controls that can limit what people see on the internet there?
We live and die by the strength of virtual private networks, or VPNs. 

The Chinese government is always trying to disrupt VPNs.
Some work relatively well for a few months, then all of a sudden they slow down, a sign that the government has successfully interfered with them. 

As journalists, we feel frustrated by the instability of the internet, the overall slowness.
But we are not the only ones affected. 

Businesses operating in China have the same problems. 

So do researchers, scholars and scientists, all people who need to get information from websites — including Twitter, Facebook and Google — that the government blocks.

Workers playing online games in an internet cafe at the Huajian shoe factory in Guangdong Province, China.

What story was your greatest challenge working with these restrictions?
All stories are a challenge. 

Everything. 

That’s the point — the Great Firewall blocks so much.
The internet always slows to a crawl during Communist Party congresses, when the government believes it must keep everything controlled and calm. 

We are expecting the internet to be particularly slow this fall when the party holds a major meeting to re-elect Xi Jinping as leader.

What tools do you use to overcome the Great Firewall? What could be better about the tools, if anything?
I would like to see faster, more efficient VPNs that are not so vulnerable to Chinese hackers, who are world champions.

Is government surveillance a concern for you? If so, how do you keep your work and communications private?
Surveillance in China is all-encompassing. 

There is no foolproof way to elude it. 

We are just reporters and we don’t have anything to hide. 

There are CCTV cameras everywhere. 

We do take steps to protect our sources.

The Chinese were way ahead of Americans in adopting messaging apps like WhatsApp and WeChat. What messaging app do you use the most?
I use both WeChat and WhatsApp, though not a lot. 

By not using WeChat too much, I deny the prying eyes of the government the pleasure of knowing instantly whom I am talking to. 

But I do not try to hide anything. 

That’s impossible. 

Last month, I was in the provinces and when I started to talk to someone on WhatsApp, I was immediately disconnected.

Beyond your job, what tech product are you currently obsessed with using in your daily life and why?
Air Matters is a vital app for checking pollution levels. 

I can tell in the morning from my apartment in a high-rise building what the air is like. 

My measure is whether I can see the Beijing hills in the distance. 

On clear days, they stand out as a jagged ridge of blue. 

On bad days, you can’t see them.
Today the A.Q.I. (air quality index) in Beijing is 188, or moderately polluted. 

On Air Matters you can see the A.Q.I. in other Chinese cities — most are over 100 today.
And you can see the worst polluted place in the world. 

Today it is a city in the west of China, Aksu, with a level of 900 because of a sandstorm. 

I am glad I am not there.

What Chinese online service or app do you use that Americans may not know about and why do you like it?
I like Didi, the ride-hailing service. 

It’s better than Uber. 

You can get an ordinary Beijing taxicab with a pleasantly cranky driver, grungy interior and an ultracheap fare. 

Or you can go high end, and get a Didi driver who comes in a spiffy car with a clean interior and bottled water.