Says Beijing-based internet analyst Zhao Jing: "This has never been done with the (Chinese) internet before." When asked why he believed the government was pulling such a move, he responded: "Maybe they are thinking that if internet users have some porn to look at, then they won't pay so much attention to political matters."
Those political matters are, of course, any website relating to human rights, or any challenge to the communist political authority in the nation.
There are 420 million Chinese connected to the Internet, by far the world's largest online population. It also has the world's most extensive censorship system, including technical filters and even human monitors.