As far as I know, IETF is not a political entity so it doesn't seem appropriate for it to take a position on any of the issues brought up so far. Some IETF participants will invariably have strong political views. The question is whether or not those views should influence their decision to take part in any conference in China. To each his own, of course. I just wish people would go to China and see it in first person and decide for themselves what the real conditions are. Maybe I need to go out more but for every person I know who's been to China, none has had negative experiences and some have changed their view of the country completely. F.U.D. is a powerful thing and I'm dismayed at how much influence it has on otherwise bright people. Coming back on topic on a practical concern of encryption and VPN access from China. I was in China in May 2008 and used IPsec from my hotel rooms (two hotels in two cities) for VPN access (back to the US) without problem at all. The throughput maybe suspect at times but not the protocol operation itself. I would think that is something that can be properly addressed by the Host. Thanks, Jerry (I don't speak for AT&T in any way, shape or form.) -- Jerry Huang, AT&T Labs, +1 630 810 7679 (+1 630 719 4389, soon) -----Original Message----- From: ietf-bounces@xxxxxxxx [mailto:ietf-bounces@xxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Noel Chiappa Sent: Sunday, September 20, 2009 11:48 AM To: ietf@xxxxxxxx Cc: jnc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [IAOC] Request for community guidance on issue concerning afuture meeting of the IETF > From: Steve Crocker <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxx> > The Internet and the IETF are all about engaging, expanding, > communicating and being open. ... More than a billion people live in > China and their use of the Internet is expanding rapidly. ... > Our first slogan was "Networks Bring People Together." The likelihood that having the IETF actually meet in China will have _any_ real impact on a country so large, I find very improbable. The things we produce? Yes. Having a meeting there? Somehow I don't think so. Noel _______________________________________________ Ietf@xxxxxxxx https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf _______________________________________________ Ietf@xxxxxxxx https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf