Wall Street Journal and Reuters are blocked in China

The Chinese websites for the Wall Street Journal (cn.wsj.com) and Reuters (cn.reuters.com) have both been blocked by the Great Firewall of China. You can check the status of these websites in real-time here and here, respectively. Their English-language sites are still reachable.

Paul Mozur from the Journal tweeted the news Friday from Beijing. Tech in Asia‘s Beijing staff tested and confirmed the block at 3:50 p.m. local time.

Ominous thunder in distance @GreatFireChina: Breaking: Reuters/WSJ Chinese blocked in China https://t.co/XMpP8HEHJH https://t.co/BWJKN5jpty

— Paul Mozur (@paulmozur) November 15, 2013


The reasons for blocking the sites are unclear and it is uncertain if the block is permanent or temporary.

According to Mashable, last week, a veteran reporter for Reuters, who has spent the better part of his career in Asia, was denied a journalist visa.

The report said that last summer, the Chinese government blocked several high profile news sites, including NYT, Bloomberg, and Businessweek , after revelations about a secret fortune held by then-premier Wen Jiabao surfaced.