Users of Microsoft’s internet-telephone and messaging service Skype are reporting that they cannot connect to Chinese mobile phones and landlines. Skype’s Chinese operator has said the connection difficulties stem from technical problems; while Microsoft said Wednesday it is working to fix the issue. However, a China and technology expert says the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) may be blocking the international calls for the regime’s political security.
The topic “Skype suddenly can’t connect calls to Chinese mobile phones” has attracted wide attention online since the beginning of the month. Many overseas Chinese use Skype to communicate with relatives in China.
In an online forum, one user posted: “I am in the United States, and I use the Skype App to call my friend’s mobile phone in mainland China. Since last week, it hasn’t been working. Every time it rings twice and gets disconnected, and with an auto voice saying that ‘your connection is too weak.’ I searched, and I’m not the only one. I guess China’s firewall has been upgraded again.”
Other posts reported the same issue: “Yes! I can’t get through either.”
Users in Malaysia, Australia, and Taiwan told The Epoch Times they were experiencing the same issue with Skype calls to China, on both mobile and landlines.
The Chinese language edition of The Epoch Times used Skype to call the Jiangxi provincial government’s landline on May 15 as a test, and also encountered the error message “your connection is too weak; please try again later.”
Skype’s Chinese operator, Shiguangpu Information Technology, posted a notice on its website May 6, attributing the connection problems to technical issues.
Political Motives
Zhong Shan, a wireless business and network broadband engineer at Silicon Valley Telecom, told The Epoch Times on May 15 that political motives might be behind the incident.He said that the CCP may be trying to bring Microsoft in line with its censorship requirements. Zhong said it is expected that the next version of Skype will be forced to accept complete control by the Chinese regime, or will be jointly developed with the regime.
“Many users talk about anti-communist and anti-totalitarian oppression topics on Skype,” Zhong said. Skype is sometimes used to warn dissidents that they’re on the CCP’s blacklist, he said. In addition, overseas media outlets use Skype to interview political dissidents in China. And Chinese seeking to leave China rely on Skype to establish overseas contacts.
He pointed out, ”If WTO [World Trade Organization] rules are followed, this business should be completely operated by the foreign company who owns it. However, the characteristic of the CCP is that it requires a Chinese company to operate the business in China during negotiations with the foreign companies. [Skype is] now run by a company belonging to Guangming.com, which is clearly the party’s mouthpiece. Founder group, which is owned by Peking University, provides the technology, while Guangming takes the lead and mainly controls censorship.”
The Epoch Times reached out to Shiguangpu on May 15 for comment. The company has not responded.
Skype was acquired by Microsoft in May 2011. It is one of the few outside software communications tools China allows to operate. Some users favor Skype because they are not required to register their names to use the app, allowing for greater anonymity. In addition, calls from Skype are thought to draw less attention from Chinese authorities than calls from U.S. cell phones.
Zhong opined that users should not count on Microsoft to solve the calling issue due to its many interests in China. “Microsoft maintains a practice of not offending the Chinese regime, so it will not actively deal with this matter.”
Skype said in a Wednesday notice on its website that the issue started on May 5 and that it has identified its cause.
Ning Haizhong and Yi Ru contributed to this report.
