According to surveys by the website Tech In Asia, the most commonly reported problem arising over Chinese internet connectivity issues is that overseas websites are loading extremely slowly—and often causing disconnection. Meanwhile, Google services are also experiencing significant inaccessibility issues.
Altogether, the problems are seen as part of ramped-up censorship and monitoring efforts during the 18th Communist Party Congress, the leadership transition currently underway in Beijing where Chinese regime authorities will hand off to a new generation. There have been widespread reports of extremely tight security in the capital and elsewhere, and the Internet appears to be no exception.
While it's unclear exactly to what extent the Internet connection problems are connected with specific security goals, it has previously been speculated that periods of significant slowdown may be associated with heightened scrutiny of individual net use and communications.
