For expatriates living in China, the list of gripes that come with facing everyday life is long. Generally among those complaints sit Internet speed, pollution and food safety. But in recent weeks concern about the Internet has taken primacy as access to websites - especially foreign websites and virtual private networks, or VPNs, which allow users to circumvent Chinese Internet filters - has deteriorated.

The likely reason is the weeklong 18th Party Congress, a highly scripted but nevertheless critical political event scheduled...