[Published: Monday September 03 2018]
 China blocks Australia websites
BEIJING 3 Sep (ANA) - China has blocked access to the website of Australia's national broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC).
The ABC said users in China were "abruptly" blocked from visiting its site and apps two weeks ago.
Chinese regulators told the ABC the site had breached the country's laws, but did not specify any violations.
China operates a strict internet censorship regime and often blocks access to foreign sites if they publish content it does not want people to see.
The BBC News and the New York Times websites are also unavailable in China at present.
The ABC's China-based journalists said they had confirmed the site had been blocked, after making several enquiries about its status.
"The ABC's website and apps are usually accessible to Chinese web users and are not subject to the 'Great Firewall' of censorship, but access was abruptly stopped on August 22," journalists Bill Birtles and Matthew Carney wrote.
The broadcaster said it had not been able to confirm the reason for the ban.
An official at the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission told the journalists: "China's internet is fully open. We welcome internet enterprises from all over the world to provide good information to the netizens of China.
"However, state cyber sovereignty rights shall be maintained towards some overseas websites violating China's laws and regulations, spreading rumours, pornographic information, gambling, violent terrorism and some other illegal harmful information which will endanger state security and damage national pride."(ANA)
FA/ANA/3 September 2018----------
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