China has officially stopped their population from viewing the Austrailan state broadcasting website. ABC who was not a part of what has been dubbed the “Great Chinese Fire-Wall”, named for China blocking access to sites, has as of August 22 been put on the list.

ABC now joins The BBC and NYTimes as being banned in China.

When China representatives were asked for clarification on why the ban was put in place for ABC, they responded saying:

“China’s internet is fully open. We welcome internet enterprises from all over the world to provide good information to the citizens of China.”

“However, state cyber sovereignty rights shall be maintained towards some overseas websites violating China’s laws and regulations, spreading rumors, pornographic information, gambling, violent terrorism and some other illegal harmful information which will endanger state security and damage national pride.”

There is speculation that ABC was banned in retaliation for Australia blocking 2 Chinese telecommunications giants from participating the roll-out of their new 5G infrastructure network. The blocking of ABC happened one day after Australia news broke.