It seems strict but maybe it's sensible from a security standpoint. Why should a foreign country like China allow foreign owned mass-surveillance systems like Google and Facebook spy on their citizens?

I mean even countries in the EU are taking Facebook to court over unauthorised online tracking of citizens [1]. The only difference with China is they have the power to do something about it, which is skip the legislative overhead and get straight to the business of blocking access.

I disagree with censorship of this kind; However, I wonder how the US would like it if the shoe was on the other foot?

[1] https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities---threats/spain-...