Chinese programmer ordered to pay 1m yuan for using virtual private network

A programmer in northern China has been ordered to pay more than 1 million yuan to the authorities for using a virtual private network (VPN), in what is thought to be the most severe individual financial penalty ever issued for circumventing China’s “great firewall.” The programmer, surnamed Ma, was issued with a penalty notice by the public security bureau of Chengde, a city in Hebei province, on August 18. The notice said Ma had used “unauthorised channels” to connect to international networks to work for a Turkish company. The police confiscated the 1.058m yuan ($145,092) Ma had earned as a software developer between September 2019 and November 2022, describing it as “illegal income,” as well as fining him 200 yuan ($27).

Charlie Smith (a pseudonym), the co-founder of GreatFire.org, a website that tracks internet censorship in China, said: “Even if this decision is overturned in court, a message has been sent and damage has been done. Is doing business outside of China now subject to penalties?”

Abstract credit: slashdot.org/story/420019

echodot, (edited )

I’m often confused about China’s laws.

If doing business outside of China is now illegal doesn’t that rather undermine the basis of theur whole cheap manufacturing economy?

knfrmity,

All countries will confiscate illegally obtained income. Want to work cross-border? Do it with the proper visas, permissions, tax reporting, residencies, etc. There’s no story here, just more China hate to help beat the drums of war.

Rooki,
@Rooki@lemmy.world avatar

And the title is the clickbait.

pedroapero,

I don’t get it; if I pay my taxes in my country of residence, how is it illegal to work for a foreign entity ?

Why would I need a visa if I stay in my own country ?

yogthos,
@yogthos@lemmy.ml avatar

US regime doesn’t even allow its citizens to visit Cuba let alone work there.

possiblylinux127,

True but I can critize the people in power and vote in elections in the US. You can’t do that in China.

yogthos,
@yogthos@lemmy.ml avatar

This is what your choice looks like in practice:

“The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them.”

And this is precisely what research analyzing decades of policy shows:

What do our findings say about democracy in America? They certainly constitute troubling news for advocates of “populistic” democracy, who want governments to respond primarily or exclusively to the policy preferences of their citizens.

Meanwhile, imagine being so utterly ignorant to think that people in China don’t vote for their leaders. You should be embarrassed of yourself.

renownedballoonthief,

It seems the person in question didn’t report this income and therefore didn’t pay taxes on it.

TrickDacy,

Gee I wonder if you’re a tankie or not

echodot,

Only if the country in question is sanctioned and I don’t think Turkey is sanctioned by China.

This is just a Chinese government doing whatever the hell they want and not thinking through / caring about the consequences.

knfrmity,

The specific laws vary of course, but a person cannot receive work related income from a foreign entity without reporting it correctly, both in the country in which the company is located and the country in which the employee is located. Even within the EU for example, with its freedom of movement for people, goods, and capital, cross border income must be correctly accounted for by both parties.

This is just a sovereign government doing what all sovereign nations do. If nations didn’t do this the consequences for even just tax collection would be immense, not to mention the many other negatives.

There’s no need to throw China bashing into every subject under the stars just because that’s apparently what counts for journalism these days.

shadycomposer,

The 1m was confiscated because it was ‘illegal income’, not because he used VPN. Yes, it’s still shitty that using VPN to access GitHub makes his income illegal, and yes Chinese government just sucks. But it’s amused that those news agencies intentionally use misleading titles. They are no better than the Chinese government.

jsdz,

Not spelling out the whole story to your satisfaction in the headline is no better than capricious law enforcement giving out penalties for something that shouldn’t be a crime ranging from nothing, to a $27 fine, to confiscating 3 years of income, to 13 years in prison?

shadycomposer,

Intentionally misleading by summarizing partial facts is simply evil. Not sure if anyone may be satisfied with this approach, but even if some do, I’m willing to bet they will become unsatisfied if missing part of the facts is actually what they care about.

jsdz, (edited )

How is it misleading? Based on the info we have it seems accurate.

shadycomposer,

“Man’s income of 1m was confiscated due to using VPN for work’ would be accurate.

‘Man is fined 1m for using VPN’ is not.

There’s no evidence (yet) that someone will be fined this much by simply using vpn in China to browse otherwise banned sites.

TrickDacy,

You’re just being pedantic… and calling this “simply evil” sounds like satire it’s so extreme

possiblylinux127,

Chinas court system isn’t controlled by the people. Punishments in China can be whatever the party wants then to be

yogthos,
@yogthos@lemmy.ml avatar

You’re a troll.

possiblylinux127,

I’m the troll? Ok I guess

yogthos,
@yogthos@lemmy.ml avatar

You’re just spewing nonsense that’s factually wrong That’s the definition of trolling, if you genuinely believe in it you’re basically no different from qanon.

PP_BOY_, (edited )
@PP_BOY_@lemmy.world avatar

The headline isn’t simply just a bad summary of what happened, it’s a gross, intentional misinterpretation of the facts to spread an agenda

el_abuelo, (edited )

Isn’t it illegal because he used a VPN? Seems like semantics.

TheAnonymouseJoker,
@TheAnonymouseJoker@lemmy.ml avatar

VPNs are legal in China.

shadycomposer,

let’s say you use weeds and weeds is legal where you are, but it’s illegal to drive after using weeds.

Now you’re arrested for DUI. Next day you make to the headline: “Man arrested for using weeds”. Is it the fact? Yes. Do you think it’s all the necessary facts?

Your opinion is based on the assumption that everyone should be allowed to use VPN to do anything. I may agree with you, but it doesn’t change how bad the article is.

Quasari,

The 1m was confiscated because it was ‘illegal income’, not because he used VPN.

Yes, it’s still shitty that using VPN to access GitHub makes his income illegal

using VPN … makes his income illegal

Yes, they fine wasn’t a flat 1m or whatever, but because he earned it while using a VPN on and off(cuz the great firewall periodically blocks github). None of that would of happened if he didn’t use a VPN, so saying that the direct reason he’s in trouble isn’t why he got punished is less honest.

If your complaint is about how the number was determined, perhaps it would be better as “Chinese programmer ordered to pay entire income(1m yuan) for using Virtual Private Network.” Honestly, either headline is fine as long as the details of how that number was chosen is in the article.

yogthos,
@yogthos@lemmy.ml avatar

This kind of reporting is the reason people in the west hate Chinese government.

echodot,

That’s just circling around the issue.

The income is illegal according to the Chinese government because he used a VPN to do work, he wasn’t charged for using the VPN directly he was charged for using the VPN to do work, but functionally it’s the same thing.

They don’t like people doing stuff they don’t know about because they’re a draconian oversight obsessed dictatorship.

reverendsteveii,

it wasn’t because he used a VPN, it was because his income was illegal. It’s just that using a VPN is what made the income illegal

He didn’t die from being shot, it’s just that all of his blood leaked out of the otherwise harmless bullet hole

NocturnalMorning,

Wtf is wrong with China?

Successful_Try543,

Everything.

yogthos,
@yogthos@lemmy.ml avatar

The comment was asking about China and not you.

Nobsi,
@Nobsi@feddit.de avatar

According to hexbear lemmy.ml and some other idiots: Nothing. This is actually a good thing. And in reality it’s the US that is at fault

xilliah,

So you can’t work for a Turkish company from China? Using a VPN is normal for work.

binboupan,

If your company needs a VPN it needs to be approved by the government first.

Blizzard,

The police confiscated the 1.058m yuan ($145,092) Ma had earned as a software developer between September 2019 and November 2022, describing it as “illegal income,” as well as fining him 200 yuan ($27).

https://lemmy.zip/pictrs/image/02dc4fd0-2a4d-4a17-9ebf-49514cc38ee3.webp

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