China cut itself off from the global internet for an hour - but was it a mistake?

China experienced a 74-minute internet disruption when HTTPS traffic (port 443) was blocked nationwide during early morning hours on August 20, 2025. The "Great Firewall" temporarily cut off access to outside websites and services requiring offshore servers, though other ports remained functional. The unusual outage lacked connection to political events and coincided with similar disruption in Pakistan, suggesting either a technical error or possible testing of censorship capabilities.