I don't think there has been many technical reasons why they couldn't block VPNs. I would presume that it has more to do with the overall cost / benefit of the

I don't think there has been many technical reasons why they couldn't block VPNs. I would presume that it has more to do with the overall cost / benefit of the open Internet. Access to the open Internet is becoming less and less of a necessity. "The next big thing" isn't really happening. A country like China, having developed their own industry, can safely rely on companies coming to them or developing their own alternatives. At the same time things like ddos, ransomware, money laundering, black markets, foreign influence, rumors, populism etc. is becoming more of a problem. It's like any other technology adopted by China. They will buy or co-develop something as long as you have something to bring to the table, when you don't they will do it themselves instead. I don't agree with the Chinese governments position nor methods, but I'm not sure their reasoning around "cyber-sovereignty" wrong.