thenational.ae
Mixed
Results vary across thenational.ae: of 7 URLs tested, 1 is blocked, 2 are disrupted some of the time and 4 load normally. The Great Firewall blocks the connection outright. 209 tests have been run under this domain since 2014-02-12, the most recent on 2026-09-28.
The two are filtered by different means — an unencrypted request by the address and keywords it carries in the clear, an encrypted one by the server name in its TLS handshake — so one working while the other does not is normal.
The site itself
http://thenational.aeBlockedhttps://thenational.aeNot blockedhttp://www.thenational.aeIntermittenthttps://www.thenational.aeNot blockedPages and subdomains (3)
http://www.thenational.ae/world/east-asia/war-lessons-for-chinas-little-red-soldiers-education-or-brainwashingas of 2026Not blockedhttp://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/next-chapter-in-chinas-rise-reforming-a-corrupt-systemIntermittenthttp://www.thenational.ae/business/industry-insights/the-life/book-review-national-humiliations-role-in-chinas-wealth-and-powerNot blockedAbout thenational.ae and the Great Firewall
Results vary across thenational.ae: of 7 URLs tested, 1 is blocked, 2 are disrupted some of the time and 4 load normally. The Great Firewall blocks the connection outright. 209 tests have been run under this domain since 2014-02-12, the most recent on 2026-09-28.
Plain HTTP and HTTPS differ here: http://thenational.ae is blocked, https://thenational.ae is not blocked. The two are filtered by different means — an unencrypted request by the address and keywords it carries in the clear, an encrypted one by the server name in its TLS handshake — so one working while the other does not is normal.
A VPN or another circumvention tool routes the request outside mainland China, past the filtering that blocks thenational.ae. GreatFire runs GreatFire VPN; the Analyzer also tests the domains of many VPN and proxy providers, so you can check whether one is reachable before relying on it.
Elsewhere on the site
Most-blocked .ae domainsEvery tested URL under thenational.ae
Each URL's status is its verdict over the last 90 days, the same one its own page headlines.