What it will take to keep Trump tweeting from behind China’s great firewall

President Donald Trump embarks on a nine-day trip to Asia this weekend. It is his longest foreign trip so far as US president, and will include two days in China—behind the country’s Great Firewall. Does that mean the world is in for an extended version of his recent 11-minute Twitter time out? Probably not. While China’s massive censorship machine technically blocks Chinese citizens from using Twitter, there are ways around it—especially for foreigners. First of all, foreigners can sometimes access Twitter and other blocked social networks within China, just by using international hotel chains’ Wi-Fi or because they’re roaming on a Chinese telecom network, rather than permanently registered on it. Secondly, there’s a bit of a precedent set for foreign officials tweeting from China. What’s more important than whether the president tweets, cyber-security experts say, is how well he and his team follow the recommendations of the White House Communications Agency and the Secret Service, which are both tasked with protecting the president and his team from cyber-attacks. Beijing has a fearsome reputation for hacking into the private communications of any foreigners traveling in China, from bankers to politicians to company heads to journalists.