Internet users in China were unable to access the WikiLeaks website on Tuesday after hundreds of thousands of secret US diplomatic cables were published on the whistle-blower website, some involving Beijing.
Attempts to open the website in Beijing and Shanghai were met with a message saying the page could not be displayed. The site could however be viewed using a proxy server that bypasses the nation's huge censorship system.
Dubbed the Great Firewall of China, this system aggressively blocks sites or snuffs out Internet content and commentary on topics considered sensitive, such as China's human rights record and criticisms of the government.
The leaked documents contain allegations that China may have turned a blind eye to illicit North Korean missile parts exports and that the top Chinese leadership was behind cyberattacks on web search giant Google and US targets. Online users in China unable to access WikiLeaks
