Flipboard gives China a peek behind the ‘Great Firewall’

This is interesting. Very interesting. The launch of Flipboard for Android in China is giving users in that country access to Twitter.

As The Next Web points out, the social network is usually blocked in the country except to people using a virtual private network (VPN). Flipboard allows users not on a VPN to tweet from their accounts.

Admittedly iOS users have been able to do so since the app launched for the iPad in December 2011 and the iPhone in March this year.

The fact that the same functionality exists on Android, means that Twitter could be opened up to a much larger portion of the Chinese market. After all some 55% of Chinese smartphones run Android.

If Fliboard’s target of 5-million downloads comes to fruition, then Twitter’s Chinese user numbers could receive a massive boost, especially as the government continues to crack down on local microblogging service Sina Weibo.

People still cannot however access Facebook from Flipboard, as they can in the rest of the world. It’s also unclear how long Twitter will remain open on Flipboard.

The Chinese edition of Fliboard is reportedly distributed through the startup Android app stores Wandoujia and AppChina. It also syncs with Chinese social networks Sina Weibo and RenRen.