China Said to Quickly Withdraw Approval for New Facebook Venture– The New York Times
What happened: Facebook’s registration to set up an innovation center in Hangzhou disappeared on Chinese government database after only existing for several hours. According to people familiar with the matter, this came after a disagreement between Zhejiang authorities and China’s national internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, which was angry that it hadn’t been consulted more closely.
Why it’s important: Facebook has been blocked in China for long and its effort to enter China never ceased. The short-lived success underlines how difficult it is still. Its presence, even not as a social network but a tech innovation center, is troublesome enough fo the authorities.