Father of Great Firewall mocked for accessing blocked site

Fang Binxing is known as the "father" of China's system of internet controls.

方滨兴被称为“中国网络管理系统之父”。

The designer of China's "Great Firewall" has been mocked online after he reportedly had to bypass the censorship system that he helped create during a public event.

这位中国“防火墙”的设计师被报道在一个公共活动中用翻墙术翻越自己制造的“防火墙”后，受到网友嘲讽。

Fang Binxing was giving a speech on internet security at the Harbin Institute of Technology when he tried to access a South Korean website, but was blocked by the system, according to the Hong Kong-based Ming Pao website.

方滨兴在哈尔滨科技学院的网络安全演讲上，试图访问一个韩国的网站，但被系统屏蔽，据香港的《明报》网消息。

To continue with his speech, he was forced to set up a virtual private network (VPN) – a common practice used to skirt state censorship – in full view of the audience.

为了继续演讲，他不得不链接虚拟专用网（VPN）这项回避国家审查制度的常用方法，向观众展示该网站。

Perhaps to avoid embarrassment, the university scrapped a scheduled question-and-answer session.

也许为了避免尴尬，该大学取消了预定的问答环节。

Mr Fang was using South Korea as an example of another country that – according to him – uses a similar system to China's internet controls, the website reports.

据方先生自己所说，他用韩国作为另一个国家的例子，说明这个国家使用类似中国的互联网控制系统，《明报》网站报道。

Government censors in South Korea are known to block some sensitive content, such as websites which praise North Korea, although nowhere near on the same scale as in China.

韩国政府也会屏蔽一些敏感内容，如赞扬朝鲜的网站，虽然在同规模上远不及中国。

As "father" of the Great Firewall, Mr Fang has long been a controversial figure among Chinese internet users, and this latest incident quickly drew ridicule on social media.

作为“防火墙之父”，方先生一直是中国网民心目中的一个有争议的人物，这一最新的事件很快引来了来自社交媒体的嘲笑。

"Blocked by his own system… This is just too hilarious," one Sina Weibo user writes. Another mocks Mr Fang for being so dedicated to his work that he didn't leave a back-door in the system, "even for himself".

一位新浪微博用户写道：“被自己的系统屏蔽，这太滑稽了。”另一个嘲笑方先生如此专注于他的工作，以至于没有在这个系统上为自己留一扇后门。

While the story hasn't appeared on mainland news sites, hundreds of comments referring to it remain visible on China's often heavily censored social media.

虽然这个故事并没有出现在大陆的新闻网站上，但在中国经常受到严格审查的社交媒体上，仍能看到数百条评论。