How to Bypass Possible US WeChat Restriction
To stay connected!
The tingle of mistrust that has developed between the two largest digital economies of the world a while back is now threatening to bar you from using popular Chinese social messaging app, WeChat, in the U.S.
The U.S. authority’s recent zoomed lens on the messaging app, as well as others, seems like a telltale continuum in the US-China impasse brought about by a melange of conflicting issues including a nearly two-year trade war, alleged Chinese intellectual-property theft, and several cases of alleged stealing of trade secrets involving Chinese nationals in the USA.
U.S.-China tensions have also increased of late over the Chinese government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak and China’s actions in the former British colony of Hong Kong and in India.
A growing culture of suspicion
Owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent, WeChat serves more than a billion monthly users — trails behind popular messaging apps, Facebook’s WhatsApp and Messenger, in terms of users — and benefits mostly overseas Chinese users.
Aside from messaging, I can use it for payments and transfers through my linked Chinese bank account. I can also use it to book flights and hotels, manage my wealth, top up my mobile phones, play games, and use other mini programmes offered by third party operators such as ride hailing service from DiDi.
Now, as WeChat is roped into a narrative that has been raised and been around for a while, the provision of these basic but essential services is likely to be disrupted which will mean a lot, especially for Chinese outside China, if the ban goes through.
The allegations tow the line of a deep seated sense of suspicion that seems to have been held against China-originated initiatives for a while. From telecom equipment supplier Huawei being accused of using its facilities to spy for the Chinese government, to loyalty questions being raised about Zoom, whose video conference platform’s usage rose sharply following the forced restriction to movement as a result of the covid 19 pandemic, mistrust has been the basis for the suspicion between the U.S. and China.
White House trade advisor Peter Navarro recently suggested that the U.S. will be looking into suspicion that data from mobile services like WeChat and TikTok end up in Chinese servers. As it was the case with Russian anti-virus firm Kaspersky a few years back, though, the U.S. is yet to provide any hard proof for their claims about the suspected Chinese messaging apps aside from their being from China. Or that the Chinese government can pilfer user data from the apps or censor the apps’ content.
The story followed a statement by the U.S. President’s Chief of staff, Mark Meadows, who says a number of their administration officials have been “looking at the national security risk” posed by TikTok, WeChat and other apps for their “potential for national security exposure, specifically as it relates to the gathering of information on American citizens by a foreign adversary.”
The U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, had hinted on a possible ban earlier in the month over concerns TikTok shared information with the Chinese government thus casting the net on others.
The Indian government has since banned TikTok and WeChat among 59 popular Chinese-connected apps over allegations that they are engaged in activities that are “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order” — though some of them, like TikTok, maintain their compliance with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and that they have not shared user information with any government.
Likely implications of a ban
It is not certain how the U.S. intends to restrict the use of WeChat within its territory, or if they will execute the threat altogether.
But in the event it does happen, banning WeChat and the likes from operating in the U.S. will leave many of us who depend on the essential services these platforms offer, especially outside China, to be deprived of the luxury for a period.
Also, as seen in India after TikTok was removed by Apple App Store or Google Play following the ban — interest in a local rival reportedly surged gaining 500,000 users per hour, it could be an opportunity for indigenous competitors to strengthen their offers or expand their reach following the ousted player’s path e.g. Instagram’s Reels.
In the meantime, some WeChat users are already speculating ways to bypass the restriction to ensure we are in touch with families and friends in China. Should the messenger app be removed by both Apple and Google, we can look to other regional stores to download the app.
If the restriction is in the form of an IP address ban, we can access the app through virtual private networks (VPNs) — after all, VPNs are well known to many of us. They don’t serve to only avoid censorship but to access online services that have been blocked e.g. through the Great Firewall, or to stream content from Chinese video platforms that are unavailable based on geographical restrictions.
With the economic geography of the digital economy being led by both the U.S. and China, according to UNCTAD, an affirmation of the data collection and sharing claims will further prolong the rivalry between the two countries.
It will cause the tussle to continue so long as the digital economy continues to evolve at breakneck speed, and driven by the ability to collect, use and analyse massive amounts of machine-readable information (digital data) about practically everything.
The challenge ahead is worth bracing for as the global digital economy is driven by digital data which includes digital footprints of personal, social and business activities taking place on various digital platforms like WeChat.
UNCTAD’s figures show that the global Internet Protocol traffic growth has grown from about 100 gigabytes (GB) per day in 1992 to more than 45,000 GB per second in 2017 and is projected to reach 150,700 GB per second by 2022.
So with these data flows, coupled with the realization that the world is only in the early days of the data-driven economy, we’re looking at a future with an enormous digital landscape that could be scrambled to be controlled especially through digital platforms as more people come online for the first time and the Internet of Things grows.
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